FB: Liberty League

[dlippiel]

For the first time in a long time Union heads into a game as the clear favorite. Stay focused and keep your guard up U. Get the W!

Let's ****ing go UNION

[UfanBill]

$8 to watch the SLU-Union game?  Good lord.  Every other team in the league doesn't charge for streams, get with the program.

Apparently "every other team" is not quite accurate. I'm about to pay $6.95 to watch the video stream of Union at Rochester.

LET'S GO "U"

[stlawus]

This SLU team is unfathomably awful.  Yet another game where they blow a 21-7 lead going into the 4th quarter.  My god.

[Bartman]

Thank you Engineers....back in it. Dutchmen next week...Gobart

[UfanBill]

An ugly but workman like win over Rochester today. The Union defense was most of the story as the offense is hampered by injuries. They're down to using a 5th string running back and deep/speed receiver Griffin Beal, who also won the Morrisville game with a kickoff return TD, is out. 1st team LL All Star RB Connor Kinzelmann is slowed by an ankle injury but gutted out two TDs on limited carries. Fortunately for the Dutchmen efficient QB Nick Cascione is healthy as is the over achieving solid defense. One bright light though...with injury comes opportunity... and the first years and backups have played very well. The depth of this team is impressive. Union has outperformed all predictions so far and hopefully can get healthier for a show down with Hobart next week. One thing for sure...Union football is fun again.

[Bartman]

Looking forward to the"old days" kinda game at Frank Bailey next week😎

[UfanBill]

Yet another section 3, Albany area QB is starting for a D3 eastern region team. RPI's George Marinopoulus from Guilderland H.S. joins fellow starting QBs Billy Pine(Hartwick, Hoosick Falls) Joe Germinerio(Brockport,LaSalle)Jake Eglintine(Springfield,Saratoga)Wahid Nabi(Ithaca,Shaker)and Brandon Gwinner(Morrisville, Schenectady). Am I missing anyone? Is it something in the water or just great high school coaching?

[Bartman]

This SLU team is unfathomably awful.  Yet another game where they blow a 21-7 lead going into the 4th quarter.  My god.

This must be incredibly frustrating...it does seem the melt down disease has gotten into their heads this year.....but I know Hobart will take SLU very seriously...

[Bombers798891]

Ithaca's loss to RPI was a tough one for the Bombers. As fantastic as RPI's defense played, the game was won by RPI's special teams

RPI dropped two consecutive punts at/inside the IC five-yard line, and by holding Ithaca without a first down, were able to flip field position. Ithaca's defense was stout on two 4th quarter possessions that began at the their 38 and 37 respectively, but you can't win that game forever. On the third possession—this one starting at the IC 24—RPI punched it in.

The Bombers still have a decent shot at a Pool A bid, (beat Union and hope Union beats RPI) and there's always Cortaca up for grabs, but this loss is a good reminder that they have work to do still. Nabi has shown that he can be a special player, but you can only ask so much from your FY quarterback. It's simply not survivable to have only 9 plays (and 21 yards on those plays) where he doesn't handle the ball.

RPI's defense deserves a ton of credit for the bounceback performance. Stellar job.

[Bombers798891]

A look back at my predictions for the LL games

IC/RPI
I thought: IC 27, RPI 10
Result: RPI 27, IC 14

Pretty good on the score, just whiffed on the results

St. Lawrence/Buff State
I thought: St. Lawrence 23, Buff State 21
Result: Buff State 24, St. Lawrence 21

Oh so close, albeit again with flipped results.

Union/Rochester
I thought: Union 31, Rochester 3
Result: Union 27, Rochester 0

Nailed it

Bart/Team Boltus
I thought: Bart 42, Boltus 34
Result: Bart 49, Boltus 27

Not too shabby overall. Had nearly every point total nailed, but was on the wrong end of two predictions (albeit one that I thought would be a tossup and was)

[Bartman]

Union is  the hunted now that they lead the league after the IC loss to RPI. Many combinations for final season standings still remain.......will the Statesmen jumble it even more with a win on Saturday?.....it will be interesting to see ....I know both Hobart and Union have improved over the season but both still have vulnerabilities....can the strong Union D stop an improved Statesman Oline against the run? Will Sweeney have another good day? Will the young Union offense exploit the Hobart D that is vulnerable to the passing game? I am just happy to anticipate an important game......

[Jonny Utah]

Union 40
Hobart 3

Taste it!

[UfanBill]

Union is  the hunted now that they lead the league after the IC loss to RPI. Many combinations for final season standings still remain.......will the Statesmen jumble it even more with a win on Saturday?.....it will be interesting to see ....I know both Hobart and Union have improved over the season but both still have vulnerabilities....can the strong Union D stop an improved Statesman Oline against the run? Will Sweeney have another good day? Will the young Union offense exploit the Hobart D that is vulnerable to the passing game? I am just happy to anticipate an important game......

   As a long time Union fan, I'm ecstatic over what the Dutchmen have accomplished so far...and yet now they've just raised the bar. The forecast for Saturday calls for low 70's and no rain, it's homecoming, so I expect a big crowd. I know Hobart will be well represented.
For Union the defense has held the fort while the offense works through key injuries. RB Connor Kinzelmann is gutting out an ankle injury and backup Derek Khnaizer is out. Just as key is the availability of WR Griffin Beal. He's been a difference maker since week one. The O-line is also down two starters. How are they coping? The fill ins have done a fantastic job...next man up...but it sure would be nice to have a full complement for the stretch. Are these guys going to play. Well I don't know. The Union coaches/training staff almost always lean towards keeping an injured player out. For example, if you leave a game due to injury and go to the trainer's table...you're not going back in. Most often you don't play next week either. I guess that's how it has to be, this is not the NFL.
   The defense has been almost injury free. There's been a lot of rotation and truthfully everyone has contributed in the two-deep. They haven't faced a team as good as Hobart yet though. Two weeks ago against St.Lawrence they rose to the occasion at home to play their best game and shut down the Larries. I'm excited to see how they handle Sweeney to Shed.

[ITH radio]

According to SOS rankings, Hobart is in at 36 and Union at 111. Interesting stat, but last season Statesmen needed to come back against a gritty Dutchmen squad so they can't be too overconfident going into this weekend's game. Union's TOM is pretty impressive, like +11, so Hobart will need to take care of the ball.

[dlippiel]

According to SOS rankings, Hobart is in at 36 and Union at 111. Interesting stat, but last season Statesmen needed to come back against a gritty Dutchmen squad so they can't be too overconfident going into this weekend's game. Union's TOM is pretty impressive, like +11, so Hobart will need to take care of the ball.

This weekend is certainly exciting and dlip believes the Dutchmen have earned this excitement and all the anticipation that comes along with their recent success.

Some things that have stuck out to dlip about Union when thinking about them as a top three finisher in the LL. First is the undeniable fact that their schedule has not been all that challenging thus far. Gallaudet and Coast Guard just aren't very good (although both have some excellent athletes on their rosters). Curry is still somewhat of a mystery, U of R is atrocious, Husson is a good football team, and SLU is struggling but probably on of the best one win teams in the nation now (for whatever that is worth). So yes the Dutchmen deserve to be proud of their accomplishments and dlip cannot remember a time he was so happy with the program. Honestly it's not the W's and L's it's the culture and all the "little" things that have changed. Win or lose the changes are more than obvious to the objective observer. Union's 0-10 team would not be 6-1 right now period.

Union's defense has been improving each week and have now come through with two absolutely dominating weeks of punishing their opponent's offense. This team is physical and they are ****ing ball hawks. They make mistakes but also make big plays and consistently make offensive players uncomfortable with their play. dlip hasn't witnessed a Dutchmen defense do so many little things well since the glory days of the late 80's and early to mid 90's. Does that mean they are on par with an offense of Hobart's pedigree? Well, we"ll see come Saturday.

The play of Union's youth has been off the charts and exceeded any expectation dlip had. Union's offensive line has been excellent overall. They are certainly inconsistent at times (youth) but they have showed the ability to take over some key parts of games and helped the running game set up the big play third down pass time and again.

The play of QB Nick Cascione has been fantastic. He is poised, has not gotten frustrated when mistakes have been made, and his accuracy has improved ten fold. He is a poised leader back there who has developed from hard work and buying into the guidance of his head coach. dlip could not be more proud.

Dlip could go on, however he must get to the point at hand...where are the Dutchmen in relation to the LL's top three teams. Simple, like he said before we'll see this weekend. dlip honestly has no idea what to think. Does he think Union can win on Saturday? Sure, he knows one thing Hobart better not take the Dutchmen lightly. With that being said though he certainly can see this game serving as a reminder of just how far the climb out of disparity is. Eaither way, to dlip this weekend and the remainder of the season are a win win for Union...as long as they don't completely ****ing implode lol.