FB: Liberty League

[bman]

I'm sure Ithaca would love to join the LL, especially from a football perspective, just to be competing more directly with institutions similar to itself. I can't imagine the football coaches love half their schedule being comprised of SUNY schools when Ithaca costs maybe two and a half times as much to attend.

I've heard my own stories of why Ithaca was not accepted into the LL. However, I would not feel comfortable attaching my name to them publicly, as I do not know first-hand information

I was always surprised that somehow Ithaca was passed over in the LL...yet the LL willingly accepted Springfield, when Ithaca is generally perceived as having a far superior academic rating.

Pep is talking about full membership (all sports) in the LL for Ithaca....Springfield was not accepted into the LL for full membership, but as an associate member for football only. Now that the LL is likely to lose its football-only associate members, perhaps it is revisiting the idea of Ithaca joining in the mix.

So you're basically saying they are desperate because they will lose their AQ...

[ITH radio]

I'm surprised they haven't already lined 2-3 teams up already.

[dlippiel]

Dlip's preview of Union vs. West Conn is up on his blog.

www.dlipthedutchman.blogspot.com

[Bartman]

I'm surprised they haven't already lined 2-3 teams up already.

Hopefully there will be a smoke signal soon from Liberty League central, as next year is probably too late. Playing with a 5 team league is seriously problematic for scheduling a full season .

[Bartman]

The Hobart son comes home as Kevin Dewall brings Endicott into Geneva. Wonder if we'll see some of his trick plays tomorrow. Looking for improvement from Oline as they play more together....Sweeney looks like the real thing but consistency is the key as Endicott will be looking to blitz and test Shane in his second game. The Hobart defense shut down Dickinson, so looking for a repeat performance as Dline and backers were awesome...also noticed very little mouthing against Dickinson(too much chatter from one LB last year for my taste) ,looks like a mature businesslike and cohesive group this year. ..keep it up

[dlippiel]

The Pride are handling UMASS Dartmouth 31-17 in the 4th. Pride option piling up over 400 yards on the ground. Dlip still not impressed with the Springfield D though. This seems to always be the case with Springfield. However, this is a good bounce back win for the Pride over UMASS. LL needs all the W's it can get.

WPI should be 2-0 after this week. They lead their crosstown rival Worcester State 27-13 in the 4th. This would be the second big W in as many weeks for The Engineers. WPI is looking decent. Congrats to them (if they can hold on) on the improvement and rivalry win.

[D3pc]

Glad WPI has started off with a couple wins, they have some solid players on both sides of the ball. If Grassis can stay healthy they can be that team this year that is good-not-great, but nobody wants to play. They have a very solid chance with norwich at home next week to go 3-0.

[Bartman]

Gross rainy day at The Boz as Hobart wins ugly against Endicott. Coach Dewall got his team up for the game but Hobart defense was ready and very strong despite the 17 points surrendered( one Defensive  TD play where a tackle caused a Endicott fumble and recovery for TD by Hobart)Offense looked flat except for some highlight reel plays from Sweeney to Shed for a great over the shoulder TD catch and Bradley Burns hurdling defenders for a run score. Rain may have been an excuse for high passes from Sweeney and some drops as well as 3 bad snaps from center one over Hobart punter's head, all for big losses in yardage. Hobart Oline is in for a tough day against Itaca next week as they had a hard time getting yardage between the tackles against Endicott.
Tyre Coleman honored at half time...what a tremendous career and a player that always stepped up in the biggest games.
Hopefully Oline will improve for next week and Defense will continue performance , but it could be a tough day against Ithaca. The team did not play like a top 20 team today....next week will be a better measuring stick , as this team has talent but needs some more development.

[dlippiel]

Union down 38-27 in the 3rd Q to West Conn. U was down 21-0 after one of the worst starts Dlip has ever witnessed. Lots of fight in these Dutchmen! You've got to love that. However the defense just cannot get stops.

[dlippiel]

30 seconds after typing that West Conn scores again...😰 45-27 West Conn...

[dlippiel]

Dutchmen lose 48-33. Again, the offense is able to make some plays. The D gave up 570 total yards...

[ITH radio]

that result plus hobart's play today gives me no idea what to expect next saturday at butterfield.t o

best part of wkd is that MMA got Mikey and his fam a W in the secretaries cup game. LL went 6-2 but RPI loss to Alfred a bit of a bummer not to mention MIT losing to Becker 

[D3pc]

Was able to catch most of the slu game. The final score was 42-28 which is very misleading. The backups were put in with about 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter which turned out to be WAY too early. The score was 42-7 at the time, but norwich was able to put back to back td drive together, which prompted the head coach to put the starters back in on defense, who then gave up negative yards and forced a punt. Then then backups went back in and another TD was scored for norwich. Kind of disjointing statistic wise, but the saints 'varsity' squad absolutely dominated norwich. The defense looked tremendous and QB Leffelbine was very sharp. The O-Line however, did not look great as that was their downfall against Morrisville.

Caught some of the Cortland-FSU game as well as that matchup intrigued me. What a high scoring, explosive game that was. I'll tell you what, FSU is a good team that will clearly take the MASCAC AQ, but they just aren't quite on the same level as the top east region teams.

I know MIT lost their QB and RB, but 0-2 and now with a loss to Becker?? The NEFC is now WNEU's to lose.

P.S. Hobart's video feed now charging to watch? Come on guys.

[Bartman]

Sad for Union and RPI losses. I thought RPI would win ...looks like Alfred may be very strong this year, but weather yesterday certainly affected both RPI and Hobart games( snappers nightmare.... Use 2 hands!, Hobart lost 61 yards on one play). The rest of the LL handled themselves well and special congrats to MMA , will miss them in league.
As far as Ithaca - Hobart ...looks like Ithaca had a tough time running against the Dutchmen while Westconn had their way against Union??? Seems like both Olines are still developing while defenses are strong( I know Hobart is, sort of guessing on Ithaca based on rep and Union game). If weather is good could see a lot of balls flying if running games are stalled as both teams will not shy away from putting it up. Sweeney looked better against Dickinson but had to take a lot of snaps under center yesterday due to weather ....missed high on some passes and hada few dropped....otherwise this would have been more one sided .  Hobart dbacks are small but very athletic , so look for turnovers like yesterday if the Bombers go bombing. This should be a good game from 2 teams that will be better at the end of the season than they are now. My instinct is that Ithaca has a slight edge due to home field and desire to avenge last year's playoff loss( that's right E8 fans .. Liberty League holds the theoretical interconference trophy, but it is certainly at risk this Saturday)

[Olorin]

Weather really put a damper on the RPI offense. They had a very good opportunity to pull it out in the end but that that long pass on 3rd down killed any chance they had. There had to be at least 10 drops in the game. Those spread offenses really disappear in inclement weather.

Oh well, on to MIT next week.