FB: Liberty League

[dlippiel]

After some reflection and thoughts here are some thoughts on the Union College Football team as of right now.

-Union is not a great football team, not here in the East region and not compared to the nations top 10-35 division 3 football teams.

-Union is not a bad team by any means and dlip considers them to be a good team right now in the east maybe falling somewhere between #'s 5-8 in the East region (dlip will do his poll later and take a harder look at the stats, #'s, etc but off the cusp this is what he thinks).

-Union has the potential to be a top tier team in the East, as well as a competitive team in the nation (teams 10-35) with the talent they are putting on the field every Saturday. Union has yet to put together a complete game where both the offense and defense is clicking on all cylinders. Many of us felt and still probably feel, if Union can find a way to do this, to play a complete game as a team with cohesion and consistency, they will find tremendous success for the remainder of the 09 season.

-The question dlip has is what the **** is getting in the way of the Dutchmen reaching their potential? Well there may be a couple of things:

a.) Inconsistent Defense: Which U D will show up? Will there be penetration and pressure on the opposing QB? Is the secondary making the apporpriate reads and reactions with saftey help? Are the LB's biting or staying home and forcing the backs, QB's, and line to make mistakes? It may seem dlip is hinting at coaching here, maybe a part, always is for any team. Yet what dlip is hinting at is consistency? There has not been enought consistent play across the board thus far to propel the Dutch D into a position where they keep the opposition thinking and making mistakes. dlip believes they have the potential to bring this to the table each and every game. Looking at Peters and Modeliewski's success this season the D has shown glimpses of being a very solid "bend not break D," that will force opposition into taking chances and making mistakes (we saw some of this against Bart.)

b.) Offense: dlip must start with being somewhat critical of Drew Connelly. Now listen dlip is a HUGE fan of Drew and feels he is the future of the U O! Yet dlip feels it is critical that Connelly settles down and starts to mature to the point of becoming more consistent and a field general. As of right now Connelly reminds dlip of Marotti from a few years back. dlip was a big fan of Marotti but felt that poor judgement, forcing throws, and mistakes took away from his overall potential (this kid had a great career believe me, but, dlip feels even with his #'s he could have been even better). Connelly seems to be headed down this path. If he can find a way to reign in the picks and poor choices the sky is the limit. Yet as of now, if his inconsistent play continues, U may come up short of the LL title and an NCAA birth. The O-line has been a bit inconsistent as well and hurt the running and passing game as a result. dlip loves this line and believes in them wholeheartedly, he just feels they need to gain some consistency and allow the running game to be effective immediately in games to open up the passing game. dlip feels the O is loaded with talented playmakers. dlip feels it may be a challenge to the coaching staff to find ways to get everyone more involved and successful. All dlip knows is the more touches Coney, Gallo, and Gourrier get, the better of the U will be.

c.) Special Teams: Special teams has improved ten fold from the 08 campaign. Hats off the Zach Eppley and his improvement. Also dlip feels kickoff coverage has been improved (with the exception of Mules game) and these kids have stepped up to the plate and worked very hard to improve a very important part of the football game. Yesterday's botched punts were brutal and hurt the U tremendously. Yet these things happen and dlip respects al the u players so very much. Still have to catch those ****in kicks, have to!

Overall: dlip loves his U and believes in his Dutchmen. He is proud of them unconditionally but feels that they must make the appropriate adjustments to make a stretch run here in 09 and get the U the LL title as well as a birth in the tourney. dlip has said this time and time again here in 09. Anything less than an NCAA birth will be disappointing for Union.

[dlippiel]

dlip will do his poll later

Sorry but dlip laughed when he saw he wrote this. Welcome to the LLPP!

[mattvsmith]

Random video that you should only watch after a few adult beverages of the day

NSFW-ish

Where do you find this stuff, 'Gro?

BTW, The Rev has been to the place that provides the background.  The Rev didn't see a horse there.

[pumkinattack]

No kidding.  I love that video (or whatever it is).  I don't get it, but love it.  I don't think adult beverages are the right prescription for it.  Reminds me of one of my trips to Amsterdam and swinging by a coffee shop before heading into the Van Gogh museum. 

[pumkinattack]

13:36 to go.  Hobart 28-0.

Modification: Anonymous LLPP friend got The Rev's back and counter-acted the Sniper's effect.  Gracias.

That was me.  I knew you didn't realize there was another board for in games, plus it had been a while since I threw you some K.

Thanks, Brother.  Good game, eh?

Yeah, nice game, but I knew MMA was suspect.  That 4-3 record wasn't reflective of an above .500 team (enter RS to debate me on this) in a highly competitive landscape.  Interesting that Bart decided to run Earl early in the game and give him a few series.  I wonder if Ted Baker was guessing or knew from Cragg that there is definitively going to be open competition at QB next year.  They need to settle that and figure out the playcalling because the offense will bring back enough quality experience to perform much better next year (Muratori, Tritten and Marlier should be getting 40 collective touches per game next year).

[Pat Coleman]

The Centennial Conference is part of the south region, I believe, on the whole.  I think the rule is the states in the administrative region or within 200 miles.  Muhlenburg is beyond the mileage, but NY and PA are in the same admistrative region.  I'm pretty sure this is right, but Pat can correct. 

This is correct. Any questions on what's in-region, check the FAQ.

[redswarm81]

13:36 to go.  Hobart 28-0.

Modification: Anonymous LLPP friend got The Rev's back and counter-acted the Sniper's effect.  Gracias.

That was me.  I knew you didn't realize there was another board for in games, plus it had been a while since I threw you some K.

Thanks, Brother.  Good game, eh?

Yeah, nice game, but I knew MMA was suspect.  That 4-3 record wasn't reflective of an above .500 team (enter RS to debate me on this) in a highly competitive landscape.  Interesting that Bart decided to run Earl early in the game and give him a few series.  I wonder if Ted Baker was guessing or knew from Cragg that there is definitively going to be open competition at QB next year.  They need to settle that and figure out the playcalling because the offense will bring back enough quality experience to perform much better next year (Muratori, Tritten and Marlier should be getting 40 collective touches per game next year).

Hey, no argument from me.

• .571 isn't really above .500;
• Kean didn't really beat Cortland;
• Union makes sense.

[mattvsmith]

'Gro, you A-hole!  The Rev is half-way through the school day and all he can think of is "Get on My Horse".

F-ing A.  Not good.

+K for getting inside my head.

[Reno Hightower]

Tough day for Union.  Sorry, fellas.  At least you're still at the top of the LL, and your march to the NCAA playoffs is so far unhindered.  Plus, The Rev has a lot of respect for Union for choosing such difficult out-of-conference opponents.  It would be easy to choose patsies, but instead Union chooses teams that force them to play up and improve.  Big ups.

A lot of movement on the standings board.  Poor USMMA got socked down into Hobart former spot, Rochester jumped up into third.  St Lawrence slid to seventh.  The only constants were Union, Susq, and RPI...well, and WPI, poor bastards.

The Shoes next week should be a barnburner.  Can't wait to see what happens there.

Seems like Union has been sleepwalking thru the entire '09 season....Union woke up at halftime vs. Salisbury, but it was too late to pull out the game.

Hopefully, this was a wakeup call for the Dutchmen and the rest of the season goes along the lines of the last 2 quarters vs. Salisbury.....business as usual from '09 will not get it done.

Not trying to start a broo-ha-ha here U89, and not saying that I totally disagree with you. But for debates sake, do you think perhaps Union isnt as good as we think they are? Or perhaps the East Region in general?

I say this because Salisbury handled SJF, who appears on path for a 2nd place E8 finish and who manhandled Ithaca. And I say it because that same Ithaca team that got manhandled by SJF is the team that Union was barely able to defeat.

Reno, U89 hears what you are saying, but there is much too much talent on that team to be performing the way they have in '09.

After more thought I agree. They cannot control the injuries  (and there have been a TON). They CAN control the turnovers. WAY too many of those. QB needs to understand that sometimes throwing the ball into the 5th row is really a good play.

Bottom line, they are talented but its not like past years where they can turn the ball over 4-5 times and expect to still beat a solid football team. They are good enough to not be perfect and win, but multiple mistakes will cost this team a win every time.

Mainly I wish they were running the ball better.

[mattvsmith]

Nearly 12 hours later and The Rev is still thinking about Get on My Horse.

Damn.

[pumkinattack]

Yeah, nice game, but I knew MMA was suspect.  That 4-3 record wasn't reflective of an above .500 team (enter RS to debate me on this) in a highly competitive landscape.  Interesting that Bart decided to run Earl early in the game and give him a few series.  I wonder if Ted Baker was guessing or knew from Cragg that there is definitively going to be open competition at QB next year.  They need to settle that and figure out the playcalling because the offense will bring back enough quality experience to perform much better next year (Muratori, Tritten and Marlier should be getting 40 collective touches per game next year).
[/quote]

Hey, no argument from me.

• .571 isn't really above .500;
• Kean didn't really beat Cortland;
• Union makes sense.

[/quote]

It's .500 now, but I tried to say (with the "in a highly competitive landscape") that against tough competition over 10+ games, they'll definitely end up below .500.  Doesn't matter, they'll end up 4-6 with Union and RPI for the last two after just getting beat 80-21 over the last two weeks vs. league competition who's collectively 6-7 (worse if you don't count those two wins).  MMA beat a deaf school (all the respect in the world for those kids, but they haven't proven to be a high caliber team yet) and coast guard in 2OT plus a 41-22 loss to SLU. Their two conference wins are SU (good except it was the week after Bart knocked Pope out and his backup was beyond awful in the 2nd half against us, which is still a win, but not against the same team that's beaten Hobart, RPI and Roch) and WPI who hasn't won a league game after the Worcester All Star tour this year. 

I never argued about Kean/Cortland.  Thought Cortland was overrated going into the year and now I heard they're recruiting my mother to play QB. 

To me, Union makes all the sense in the world.  They have a highly erratic QB (why I thought Bart could/would win, but he played his best game of the year), plus some other extremetly talented weapons (it looks like Coney hasn't improved over last year though, he got tough yards against Bart last year, couldn't this year though he did have one big run).  Their D is adequate, not great, they have a good pass rush, but aren't very stout on the run up the middle and they're on the field a bit because the offense tries to go for the big play.  A team that can contain the number of big plays by U's O and can run effectively can beat them.  The IC win was at home and the Sal loss on the road.  I suspect if you flipped the locations you could flip the results (meaning good enough to wiin a decent game at home, but no tquite good enough to win a tough road game).  They are the best of a bad lot in the LL this year.  Rochester was 1-2 in OOC and are 2-2 in conference, Bart 1-1 in OOC and 2-2 in conference, RPI 2-0 vs. lowly comp OOC and 2-2 in conference w/Union and Bart left.  Union is a 5-7 win team in the 2004-2007 era, but this year they'll be 8-2.  Makes sense to me.

[pumkinattack]

Nearly 12 hours later and The Rev is still thinking about Get on My Horse.

Damn.

BTW, what was the pic that flashes in between the close up of the horses face?  I'm sure it's something subliminal, but I couldn't catch it on a couple of tries. 

[Knightstalker]

After that horse video KS needs to post the TOTD.

['gro]

It's shoes week people. Too bad gro won't be making the trek to schenectadeck, had such a great time getting kicked out of that "private" party at Geppettoes because some players mom didn't like my RPI shirt. At least Paulie handled it with class, by calling the cops.

in other words... UNION SUCKS. Welcome to shoes week. 

[lewdogg11]

It's shoes week people. Too bad gro won't be making the trek to schenectadeck, had such a great time getting kicked out of that "private" party at Geppettoes because some players mom didn't like my RPI shirt. At least Paulie handled it with class, by calling the cops.

in other words... UNION SUCKS. Welcome to shoes week. 

Although I hate to say it, science normally would say that this year's game could be slightly lopsided.

However, I know better.  There are still some people on the inside that base the word 'success' on the season completely around whether RPI beats Union or not.  I'm sure there was some game-planning done during halftime of the Rochester and Susquehanna games.  I'm sure the entire St. Lawrence week was with a Union scout team D.

So, with that said, it might actually be a dogfight this week.