FB: Liberty League

Bombers798891 · September 30, 2019, 07:47:17 AM

Random thought:

If IC and Hobart could both run the table these next two weeks (probably an easier ask of IC, given the opponents) it will set up a pretty high-profile showdown between the two school where the winner could be vaulted up very high. Would be a good thing for the conference, I think. RPI could also make up a lot of ground by the time IC plays them if they win the Hobart game.

Union doesn't seem to be getting the love from the voters yet.

Oline89 · September 30, 2019, 09:37:46 AM

Here are my takeaways from the weekend and heading into LL play:

1. Ithaca is beatable, the LL coaches will be fighting to get a hold of the second half tape of the SJF game.

2. Hobart's defense is very good. They shutdown an NJAC team that will still battle for the NJAC crown. The Statesmen offense remains suspect, they still haven't had that breakout game, and perhaps never will. Defense is supposed to win football games, so we will see.

3. At this point in the season, I am not sure how much a bye week helps Union. If there were injuries that needed to mend, then yes. However, there is something to be said for getting in a football rhythm.

4. RPI's loss to WPI looks a lot better after WPI dispensed of Springfield. The Engineers should be fine going forward.

Bartman · September 30, 2019, 09:51:46 AM

Quote from: Bombers798891 on September 30, 2019, 07:47:17 AM
Random thought:

If IC and Hobart could both run the table these next two weeks (probably an easier ask of IC, given the opponents) it will set up a pretty high-profile showdown between the two school where the winner could be vaulted up very high. Would be a good thing for the conference, I think. RPI could also make up a lot of ground by the time IC plays them if they win the Hobart game.

Union doesn't seem to be getting the love from the voters yet.

I agree, it would be great for the LL to see Hobart and IC undefeated when they meet, however Union and RPI are going to have their say against the Statesmen . Usually Hobart holds serve at home, but the first game is at Bailey field where Hobart needs to get out to a strong start. Union(really not getting love from pollsters as Bombers points out, so that will add to their motivation) has not really been tested and has a weeks rest. Hobart has been tested but the last two very hard hitting NJAC opponents could have turned the tables with a few calls going their way( incidentally, the officials in the game against MSU had referee conferences that seemed to go on for as much as 3-5 minutes). The Hobart Oline has made some good improvement over the early season while the defense is now the strength of the team, and a couple of injuries have tested their depth and the next up has done well. I am glad the LL schedule has allowed everyone to work on their team development which should make for a fair competition( assuming the refs are not a factor).

Ice Bear · September 30, 2019, 12:06:48 PM

Ice Bear says great football talk and gives k to the board.

Ice Bear has thoughts. He says Hobart has looked really tough on D and can do enough on O to win the league. Tough game for Union no matter where it's being played. Ice Bear says Bart is the favorite going into Saturday's game in Shocktown.

Ice Bear says IC is really good when they are hitting on all cylinders. They are certainly beatable but their peaks can win them games even with the lulls. Germinerio has no soul...but he's an excellent football player.

Ice Bear still hasn't included the Dutch in his ERFP and would not give them votes in the national poll. Saturday will give us an idea who the Dutch really are. Nothing so far has really done that in IBHO.

Ice Bear says nice win for SLU. Air that **** out bitch! Hardest thing to defend is the pass.

UfanBill · September 30, 2019, 12:12:09 PM

LIBERTY LEAGUE...BEAST OF THE EAST ?
In formulating my ERFP ballot for this week I see that the Liberty League was 15-11 in OOC games and 7-6 against the rival E8.( the E8 was 17-9) There are only 2 OOC games left to be played this regular season and they are both LL/E8 match-ups...Union vs Utica week 10 and the Cortaca Jug, Ithaca/Cortland week 11. Who's the better conference? The head to head games show that the top 4 in the LL went 13-1, 5-0 vs E8 while LL newcomer Buffalo St. went 0-4 versus their old league

. The E8 powers went 12-3 with all three of those losses to the LL.

Also Hobart won both LL/NJAC games. What we're seeing in the national D3football Top 25 poll and the ERFP is that the Liberty League is challenging to become the top league in the East... Of course having Ithaca now in the LL, the MAC down and the NJAC losing two strong teams helps.

Bartman · September 30, 2019, 12:25:23 PM

Quote from: UfanBill on September 30, 2019, 12:12:09 PM
LIBERTY LEAGUE...BEAST OF THE EAST ?
In formulating my ERFP ballot for this week I see that the Liberty League was 15-11 in OOC games and 7-6 against the rival E8.( the E8 was 17-9) There are only 2 OOC games left to be played this regular season and they are both LL/E8 match-ups...Union vs Utica week 10 and the Cortaca Jug, Ithaca/Cortland week 11. Who's the better conference? The head to head games show that the top 4 in the LL went 13-1, 5-0 vs E8 while LL newcomer Buffalo St. went 0-4 versus their old league . The E8 powers went 12-3 with all three of those losses to the LL. Also Hobart won both LL/NJAC games. What we're seeing in the national D3football Top 25 poll and the ERFP is that the Liberty League is challenging to become the top league in the East... Of course having Ithaca now in the LL, the MAC down and the NJAC losing two strong teams helps.

Bartman thinks UfanBill has done his homework, and the LL is trending up especially against the E8 until Metlife and Union-Utica results are in. The two NJAC teams Hobart faced were full of very hard hitting young men who wanted to win, and it will be interesting to see if Wesley or Salisbury are upset this weekend. Now , we are ready for the real season! Hopefully Bartman will not have to put in ear plugs to muffle the sound of the hideous cannon at Bailey.

Ice Bear · September 30, 2019, 12:36:49 PM

Quote from: UfanBill on September 30, 2019, 12:12:09 PM
LIBERTY LEAGUE...BEAST OF THE EAST ?
In formulating my ERFP ballot for this week I see that the Liberty League was 15-11 in OOC games and 7-6 against the rival E8.( the E8 was 17-9) There are only 2 OOC games left to be played this regular season and they are both LL/E8 match-ups...Union vs Utica week 10 and the Cortaca Jug, Ithaca/Cortland week 11. Who's the better conference? The head to head games show that the top 4 in the LL went 13-1, 5-0 vs E8 while LL newcomer Buffalo St. went 0-4 versus their old league . The E8 powers went 12-3 with all three of those losses to the LL. Also Hobart won both LL/NJAC games. What we're seeing in the national D3football Top 25 poll and the ERFP is that the Liberty League is challenging to become the top league in the East... Of course having Ithaca now in the LL, the MAC down and the NJAC losing two strong teams helps.

Ice Bear says **** yeah Ufan! +k

Doid23 · September 30, 2019, 06:07:31 PM

Quote from: Bombers798891 on September 30, 2019, 07:31:21 AM
If you play the halves of the IC-Fisher game out of order, it ends with Bahamonde winning the game with a 47-yard kick as time expires. Even more exciting!

+K

Caz Bombers · September 30, 2019, 07:29:02 PM

yeah well I read the whole play by play of the IC-Fisher game into a tape recorder, played it backwards and got a message saying ANNA MARIA WINS THE NEXT FIFTEEN STAGG BOWLS IN A ROW

Mr. Ypsi · September 30, 2019, 09:00:24 PM

Quote from: Caz Bombers on September 30, 2019, 07:29:02 PM
yeah well I read the whole play by play of the IC-Fisher game into a tape recorder, played it backwards and got a message saying ANNA MARIA WINS THE NEXT FIFTEEN STAGG BOWLS IN A ROW

Hearing Aids can be your friends!

Either that or your tape recorder has been taken over by poltergeists.

Bartman · October 01, 2019, 10:53:04 AM

Bartman picks last week 6-0. 21-5 YTD. LL OOC record is 15-11 YTD

Buffalo State 7 (21) Cortland 31(59) Dragons breath fire over the Bengals. Dragons go wild with 580 yards of O

SLU 42(33) Hartwick 21(0) Saints start a streak. Grochot another 300+ and Defense

Hobart 28(16) Montclair St. 21(3) Statesmen go 4-0 and are battle tested for the LL season and Union next week. DEFENSE!

RPI 42(38) Anna Maria 7(0) Union won by more Tough Scheduling

Ithaca 45(48) SJF 17(45) IC improves every week Where was the IC pass defense?

Alfred 41(56) Rochester 7(13) Saxons roll Not much to say

Week 5:

Union 31 Hobart 37 GAME OF THE WEEKA see-saw gut tester with Hobart pulling it out in the last minute

RPI 48 Rochester 7 Engineers roll

Ithaca 38 SLU 28 Saints go up early but the Germ does not disappoint

UfanBill · October 01, 2019, 12:16:05 PM

Time to start talking about the LL "game of the week" Hobart at Union. Bartman has it 37-31 Statesmen. I'm thinking that the Dutchmen won't give up that many points. Let's look at last years' remarkably close game won by Hobart fueled by 3 Hackett FGs. Here's the boxscore...https://www.d3football.com/seasons/2018/boxscores/20181006_area.xml Union led for much of the game but Bart scored the last 10 points to win 29-28.
This year's cast of characters for each team is very similar to last year's. On offense Union has their big 3, Bellamy, Irabor and Ross Jr. plus Beal and a veteran O-line. Back for Hobart are Hoffman, Haeffner,Catalioto,Conley and their "secret weapon" punter John Dellisanti who last year caught a key 60 yard pass/run which set up the late winning TD and last week threw a fake punt pass which sealed the deal against Montclair. The O's are definitely loaded BUT will it be defense and special teams that decides this one? The Union defense is solid but untested. Hobart's

so far they've got the job done. With Hackett, the most accurate kicker ever at Hobart, and Dellisanti, you would again think the Statesmen have a special teams edge but Union has players of their own. Kicker Marcos Rodriguez and punter/kicker Will Halpin are steady, reliable and experienced. SO what will be the difference? TURNOVERS I'm thinking the Dutchmen have to be +2 in the turnover ratio and they'll pull this one out 27-23. It should be a great game.

ITH radio · October 01, 2019, 01:15:15 PM

I agree it'll be a lower scoring, defensive game. X factor is Union D who we don't know much about based on teams played to date.

This was my blog preview fwiw: http://gohobart.blogspot.com

I think Statesmen's tougher schedule and experience will help them win a close one.

Oline89 · October 01, 2019, 02:53:27 PM

I agree that defense/special teams will also decide the winner in the Hobart-Union game. Hobart's D has been strong all season. My guess would be in the 21-14 range for final score. I have no idea what offense DeWall has planned. He has gone all pass (60 attempts vs Morrisville) to run first (see MSU). Either way, this will set up the next three weeks for the Statesmen.

Oline89 · October 01, 2019, 02:58:09 PM

Not to pull the scab off a painful wound, but the ITH guys have a new podcast today, and they re-visit the Joe G/Nabi situation again. No matter how fervent a Bomber supporter you are, you have to admit it is a little sketchy. This whole situation is going to stick with the 2019 IC team for a long time. Dare I say, it may warrant an * in the record books?