FB: Liberty League

[ITH radio]

http://libertyleagueathletics.com/news/2016/11/16/FB_1116162246.aspx

No real surprises here. I thought maybe they could have gone Co-OPOTY with Sweeney and Shed but normally when you have a QB pass for 3k+ 33 TDs etc, they win this award.

CBW was also an obvious choice although WPI's Murtagh led the LL in tackles and could have been DPOTY IMO.

Only one I really whiffed on was this one. Good choices but I thought maybe JHG would win it again b/c of his PR skills or maybe Bursey from WPI who was a very accurate kicker.

Thought ROTY would either be Downey from HOB or McAllen from WPI. When in doubt, it almost always goes to the offensive guy, so there you go.

Only other pick that was a head scratcher for me was D'Antonio not making 1st team D.

Congrats to all involved!

[fisheralum91]

Pep i acquiesce to the higher intellect.

or is it akweeeest to that smarts?

[Bartman]

Nice example by booby. So is this a damned if you do/don't game for the East...if Hobart loses it's , you see they can't even beat Mount in a down year and if they win it Bart will get some nice headlines with the caveat , well they beat an atypical Mount team in a down year ....I guess that will depend on how the winner does in the rest of the tournament. Well theory and analysis is suspended for a couple of hours at noon on Saturday when the Mount Union Raiders invade the BOZ , new territory for sure.....ya gotta love it😀

Let's also be honest here on the flip side. This is not (and dlip is pretty sure Bartman will agree with him) Bart's best team in the last decade or so either. As a matter of fact dlip thinks this Bart team is the weakest (in comparison to other Bart teams) in some time. With SLU seemingly being a bit above average, the loss to a "not so good" RPI team, and having to beat more than a couple of "ok" teams at the end of the game one could argue this is a down Bart team that just has a ****ing nasty QB and WR.

The down year **** can be played from both sides. The Purple People Eaters are still the ****ing Purple People Eaters and a playoff victory over them is a ****ing incredible accomplishment no matter what. Mt is the clear favorite here in dlip's eyes without question. ****, most teams have a "Carroll" game once a year. Mt just had one once a ****ing decade. Don't be fooled by anyone fellas. The quality of player and depth this PPE team has, regardless of maturity, still sits hands down above most others on most days of the week, years, or decades.

Let's ****ing Go Pumpkinheads!

Dlip...I totally agree with your assessment of the challenge.....this Statesmen team does not have the best talent at every position compared to some of the teams of the past...no Tyre Coleman, Ali Marpet or Steven Webb....but it is the team that has been given the opportunity and seems to be peaking at the right time...we have never had as good a corp of receivers and QB as we have now......and we are playing at the BOZ....this will be our Stagg Bowl and if we are fortunate/lucky enough to win(we certainly will accept any luck, helpful wind and friendly officials) it will be about the TEAM and not any individual player no matter how well Sweeney or Shed play....AND tying the Raiders shoelaces together might help

[Bartman]

http://libertyleagueathletics.com/news/2016/11/16/FB_1116162246.aspx

No real surprises here. I thought maybe they could have gone Co-OPOTY with Sweeney and Shed but normally when you have a QB pass for 3k+ 33 TDs etc, they win this award.

CBW was also an obvious choice although WPI's Murtagh led the LL in tackles and could have been DPOTY IMO.

Only one I really whiffed on was this one. Good choices but I thought maybe JHG would win it again b/c of his PR skills or maybe Bursey from WPI who was a very accurate kicker.

Thought ROTY would either be Downey from HOB or McAllen from WPI. When in doubt, it almost always goes to the offensive guy, so there you go.

Only other pick that was a head scratcher for me was D'Antonio not making 1st team D.

Congrats to all involved!

Agree D'Antonio played at a high level at key points during the season, he was first LL last year...also I did not see Harper, he has played well most of this year(although his on field celebrations at times may have hurt him)

[ITH radio]

Harper being left off is tough. The LB category was pretty stacked but he's talented enough to have made 2nd team (probably over Conde who has struggled in several games).

Perhaps the penalties Harp had earlier in the year dinged him with the coaches who voted?

Brandon Ball also had a solid campaign and played just as well as Hedger (who ended up on 1st team). Nitpicky, but hey, that's how these things go sometimes.

[Bartman]

Harper being left off is tough. The LB category was pretty stacked but he's talented enough to have made 2nd team (probably over Conde who has struggled in several games).

Perhaps the penalties Harp had earlier in the year dinged him with the coaches who voted?

Brandon Ball also had a solid campaign and played just as well as Hedger (who ended up on 1st team). Nitpicky, but hey, that's how these things go sometimes.

Agree Brandon Ball came up huge a number of times this year

[Hobart15]

Agree with D'antonio. He was an impact player this year. Jameson was somewhat limited by injury. Conde and Downey had stats but did struggle in the middle early in the year. Both really picked up their game as the season progressed. Leaving Harper off completely doesn't make sense as he had two of the biggest plays on defense this year for Hobart and his INT against WPI was probably the biggest. Without that momentum changer, I think it's pretty safe to say they aren't playing this weekend. Although he did have some penalties early in the year, the calls were controversial at best and just plain bad at worst. As a senior, I'm sure he is disappointed.

[ITH radio]

Not sure if a high chance of rain is a good or bad thing for this weekend. Leaning bad because of Hobart needing to pass the ball well...

Hope it holds off until after the game.

[ITH radio]

http://athletics.mountunion.edu/sports/fball/2016-17/files/16fbgm-hobart.pdf

[Bartman]

Ok, Pat Coleman picks UMU to win 41-31, I think since he was actually at the Hobart-SLU game this is credible.....which means we should be in the ball game and maybe , just maybe we can win on a last minute drive the way JCU did.....GO BART, play your hearts out🙏🙏😀

[Hobart15]

Don't know what to think about this game. If it was any other team with the record and sos coming into the Boz, I'd be pretty confident. But of course, it's not any other team. Biggest key, besides the weather has to be the turnover battle. If Hobart is not plus, don't think they have a chance. Run defense has been vastly improved over the second half of the year, they are going to have to continue and most important, not let MU get to the edges. That means Jemison and Harper need big games. Also have to bring the QB down when given the chance, cannot have him slip away like at St. Lawrence. Our DB's not only have to have a good game in coverage, they have to make tackles in the run game. Hope to see D'antonio out there.

Similar to St. Lawrence, will UMU pass defense be their Achilles Heal? Shed is a legit All American so do they double and force Sweeney to go elsewhere? Will this mean another WPI like game for phofl? Will be interesting to see. Can Hobart run the ball they way they did last week? If they can, I like their chances.

Now let's talk about a weakness that has been there all year. Can we make extra points? We cant miss one. Can we cover kickoffs? We haven't been able to. Will we even kick it deep? I hope not. Can we make a big special teams play. The game may come down to special teams, Which has to favor UMU.

So many storylines, guess that is what makes it a great game. If Hobart has the ball down inside one score at the end of the game.....oh boy

Will be there tomorrow, wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.   GO BART!!!!!!!!!

[ITH radio]

Speaking of stories, this was a good one:

https://www.google.com/amp/buffalonews.com/2016/11/17/bronson-lauded-hero/amp/

[Bartman]

UMU at the BOZ practicing at 3 pm today.....Must be strange for their coaching staff.....hope the weather cooperates tomorrow.

[Desertraider]

UMU at the BOZ practicing at 3 pm today.....Must be strange for their coaching staff.....hope the weather cooperates tomorrow.

The location may be different...but practicing a week after the regular season isn't. Not being an arse here but Mount actually has the "Stagg Bowl" referenced on the academic calendar - not by name, but as a potential alternate schedule.

[ITH radio]

They are staying in Victor which isn't far away. Not unusual for away team to practice PM before a game. At least Mt Union players had some class and didn't take to social media to boast about how the Boz was "theirs" like some previous visitors from OH.