FB: Liberty League

[Bartman]

LL goes 3-4 in first OOC weekend  as Hobart, Union and RPI record wins. RPI found an offense as they beat Dickinson 38-27 for the last win on Saturday. Yellowjackets scare Utica in loss 21-17 indicates they will be a factor this season.

[Jonny Utah]

Ithaca smoked weed with Jonny Hopkins and lost today.  I only was able to watch off and on as I attended the Dean/Fitchburg State game (I'll get to that experience later this week). From what I saw in the IC/JHU game, the passing offense did not seem smooth at all.  Wingfield would drop back to pass and he either threw it up to the single WR side or broke the pocket because no one was open.  They made some big plays and the run game looked good at times but obviously not enough.  Ithaca defense also came up with big plays but the JHU qb and wrs were a notch above and he made some perfect passes with some perfect catches by his wrs as well.

[Jersey42]

RPI's offense definitely looked a lot better than last year.  The defense was clearly not as suffocating as last season when they never allowed more than 14 points. But it may be better than a 38-27 score might indicate. Here are some observations from watching the livestream.

Offense
Jr QB Jake Kazanowsky who did not start until the fifth game in 2022 looked both poised and good. He completed passes to eight different receivers. He went 19-31, 255 yards, 2 TD, no INT and no sacks.  He also rushed for 60 yards and another TD.  A good start to the season and his best college game to date.

So WR Hayden Faraday caught more than half of Kazanowsky's completions with 10 receptions for 144 yards and 1 TD.  Faraday caught one pass in 2022, so this was an unexpected bright spot.

Fr RB Kayden White impressed as a big back with good speed and quickness.  He had runs of 35 and 56 yards and he was able to gain yards after the initial hit.  Overall he had 13 carries, 128 yards and 2 TD. He also added 2 receptions for 20 yards.

Gr transfer kicker Jared Elstein looked solid with 5 for 5 XPs along with easily making his lone FG (31 yds).  Unfortunately he was hurt on the last XP.  Hopefully it is nothing serious.

Defense
In the first half, RPI was pretty much able to hold Dickinson in check.  The only TD was mostly due to poor tackling by multiple RPI defenders. 

RPI took a 24-7 with less than 12 minutes to go in the game, then the offensive explosion began as the teams exchanged TDs for the remaining possessions of the game.  Dickinson QB Presley Egbers put up most of his stats in Q4 when the outcome was never seriously in doubt.  (15 of 23 completions, 187 of 255 passing yards and 25 of 36 rushing yards).  Egbers is a good QB (former ODAC player of the year), and I suspect he is one of the best two QBs RPI will face all year. I believe RPI played many first teamers in Q4, but watching the livestream, it is sometimes difficult to tell exactly who is playing. 

Defense is a work in progress, but with a potentially improved offense, they may not have to do it all this season.  Time will tell.

[Bartman]

RPI's offense definitely looked a lot better than last year.  The defense was clearly not as suffocating as last season when they never allowed more than 14 points. But it may be better than a 38-27 score might indicate. Here are some observations from watching the livestream.

Offense
Jr QB Jake Kazanowsky who did not start until the fifth game in 2022 looked both poised and good. He completed passes to eight different receivers. He went 19-31, 255 yards, 2 TD, no INT and no sacks.  He also rushed for 60 yards and another TD.  A good start to the season and his best college game to date.

So WR Hayden Faraday caught more than half of Kazanowsky's completions with 10 receptions for 144 yards and 1 TD.  Faraday caught one pass in 2022, so this was an unexpected bright spot.

Fr RB Kayden White impressed as a big back with good speed and quickness.  He had runs of 35 and 56 yards and he was able to gain yards after the initial hit.  Overall he had 13 carries, 128 yards and 2 TD. He also added 2 receptions for 20 yards.

Gr transfer kicker Jared Elstein looked solid with 5 for 5 XPs along with easily making his lone FG (31 yds).  Unfortunately he was hurt on the last XP.  Hopefully it is nothing serious.

Defense
In the first half, RPI was pretty much able to hold Dickinson in check.  The only TD was mostly due to poor tackling by multiple RPI defenders. 

RPI took a 24-7 with less than 12 minutes to go in the game, then the offensive explosion began as the teams exchanged TDs for the remaining possessions of the game.  Dickinson QB Presley Egbers put up most of his stats in Q4 when the outcome was never seriously in doubt.  (15 of 23 completions, 187 of 255 passing yards and 25 of 36 rushing yards).  Egbers is a good QB (former ODAC player of the year), and I suspect he is one of the best two QBs RPI will face all year. I believe RPI played many first teamers in Q4, but watching the livestream, it is sometimes difficult to tell exactly who is playing. 

Defense is a work in progress, but with a potentially improved offense, they may not have to do it all this season.  Time will tell.

Nice win by RPI...I'm thinking Coach Isernia will get the Defense functioning to its potential by LL season, nice to see an RPI team with more offense since the old teams were very boring, of course they are the Engineers

[unionpalooza]

A few week one reactions, recognizing its too early to tell anything, really.

It appears that RPI's offense has taken a real step forward, and the defense a step back, which makes given how they lost.  I think they'll be in every game they play, but I continue to think that they're looking at a 7-3 or 6-4 kind of year.

Hobart took care of business at Alfred, and I thought their defense and new QB both looked sharp.  They struggled to run the ball in the first half, but seemed to get better in that department as the Saxon D wore down.  If they can get the OL to gel, I think they could absolutely make a run at the LL title.

A game against Hilbert doesn't tell us much about Union, as they dominated a very young team that didn't match up on any side of the ball.  That said, Union reminds me a lot of Ithaca's team last year - lots of experience, very well-rounded, and with a first-year coach who has brought a ton of energy.  The play calling in all three phases was much more aggressive, and I think Union will have the best front seven in the league this year.  Probably has the highest ceiling of the LL big four, but it will all come down to whether they can pull out the tough fourth quarter battles.  I welcome everyone to continue to sleep on them as the #4 squad in the LL.

As for Ithaca, JHU is obviously a very good team, but that #9 preseason spot looks heavily overrated.  Ithaca's greatest strength last year was that they had no real weakness in any phase of the game; yesterday, the secondary really struggled in downfield coverage, and Wingfield just couldn't find or couldn't receivers consistently enough to keep drives goings.  I thought Ithaca ran the ball really well, and I wonder whether they might have had a better shot if they had just pounded the rock rather than throw 19 incompletions.  Of course, this loss will look better if JHU turns out to be a top 10 team, but I don't think that's the case - they only returned 6 of their 16 all league guys from a year ago, and it seems moe likely they will be very good, but not great.

Rochester put up a really nice effort against a Utica team that I also think was wildly overrated at #26 in the preseason poll.  (I don't think most voters had any real sense of what Utica was/was not bringing back, and that was classic seasonal holdover syndrome.). Oddly enough, Big Papa was stifled in the ground game, and it was passing and defense that kept UofR in it.  Something tells me the Jackets manage to catch one of Union, Hobart, RPI or Ithaca sleeping this year and finish .500 or close to it.

Neither SLU nor Buff St. seem worth thinking about.

In other news, I am still trying to make sense of yesterday's Mary Hardin Faceplant.  Man, to read the Region 3 board, it's the end of the world down in Benton and the coach is already on the seat. That's hilarious, but I do wonder how the UMHB model works in the new transfer portal world, where there a lot more D2/FCS transfer options to compete with from both a recruitment and retention perspective.  Ultimately, you win championships with guys who play four years together.

Finally, I was bummed to see that Coach Behrman's John Carroll squad couldn't quite finish out UWW in a game they led with just 9 minutes to play.  That loss probably keeps that out of the playoffs barring an upset at Mt. Union, which seems possible but not likely.

[IC798891]

Thoughts on IC.

The Bombers have lost a lot at WR the last few years, and need to integrate some new pass catchers into the fold. They do not typically attack downfield in the passing game, so once they got down early, it's a tough spot to be in. But, last season, Hopkins allowed opponents to gain and average of 108 yards per game on the ground. Ithaca gained 179, so there's a lot to like there. IC was able to move the ball inside the Hopkins 35 six times, which is pretty good. Zero turnovers is another positive.

They struggled to stop the big play defensively, allowing several long completions and runs.

I think they'll figure it out. Hopkins is a very strong team and they were on the road. Endicott is another test though.

Thoughts on the rest of the LL games.

RPI is completely different. The offense looked amazing. And for years, we were terrified of what RPI would look like with a strong offense. But the defense? Look, it's easy to handwave away stuff that happens when it's 24-7 in the fourth, especially when the last TD came with zero seconds left.

But, Dickinson put together these drives back to back to back in the 4th quarter:

12 plays, 75 yards
10 plays, 69 yards
13 plays, 80 yards

Regardless of if the game was in doubt, that is concerning. Allowing your opponent to go 11-for-18 on third down, and 1-of-1 on 4th down is concerning. I hope it really is as simple as "They knew they were fine, and they just took their foot off the gas" But be wary.

Hobart is going to be a lot like last year, IMO. The entire offense is Denham and Boswell. To only put up 24 points on offense against Alfred does not bode well for the better caliber of opponents that will come later.

Union: I know Hilbert will eventually be an E8 member and needs to play someone. They're still a second year program that can't compete at this level right now. Nothing can be gleaned from a game like that. Union's next game is against an opponent that they beat 76-7 last year. Nothing will be gleaned from that either. Wake me for the Springfield game.

Utica studied how to stop Papantonis, who did zero against the Pioneers on the ground. Good for Rochester that they showed the ability to compete without him. Tough loss.

St. Lawrence looks unable to move on offense.

Buff State just does not have the talent

[Bartman]

Nice analysis by the LL board contributors. As of now my LL rankings :

1. Ithaca...... The loss to JHU does not change ranking . Now if they lose to
                    Endicott , that's an issue
2 Hobart, RPI, Union..... all showed enough to be contenders

5.Rochester    Finally, we have serious improvement

6. SLU.           Unimpressive first game

7. Buff State.... A long season awaits

[IC798891]

Solid rankings from Bartman. I'm not sure I agree with the Hobart and Rochester takes.

I mean, to some degree, I get that the LL has kind of revolved around the Big 4.

But for a Hobart team breaking in a new QB, to see him go 13-of-26 for 114 yards, zero scores and a turnover, that's disconcerting. We saw last year that, as great as they are, the two running backs just can't carry them offensively. I just wonder if they've got enough on that side of the ball.

As for Rochester, as I said earlier, tough loss. But honestly, defense wasn't their issue last year. They held offenses in check. Even teams like RPI and Union really couldn't pull away until the 4th. But their offense was not good. They disappeared completely constantly, in large part because they were a one man show

Week 1's 10 offensive points didn't do much to show that that's changed.

[Bartman]

Solid rankings from Bartman. I'm not sure I agree with the Hobart and Rochester takes.

I mean, to some degree, I get that the LL has kind of revolved around the Big 4.

But for a Hobart team breaking in a new QB, to see him go 13-of-26 for 114 yards, zero scores and a turnover, that's disconcerting. We saw last year that, as great as they are, the two running backs just can't carry them offensively. I just wonder if they've got enough on that side of the ball.

As for Rochester, as I said earlier, tough loss. But honestly, defense wasn't their issue last year. They held offenses in check. Even teams like RPI and Union really couldn't pull away until the 4th. But their offense was not good. They disappeared completely constantly, in large part because they were a one man show

Week 1's 10 offensive points didn't do much to show that that's changed.

I understand your comment on Hobart's backs, but last year Rayshawn Boswell was never  healthy and Denham got banged up because he had to take the brunt of the carries.This year, for right now they are both healthy and they are motivated to go out with a bang. Colombi started the game well but they had some serious miscues , so we'll see but he is much more accurate than last years starter. I'm hoping to see what Tru Styles has as a Frosh backup, he looks very good , but DeWall is very fair and Colombi needs to be given a shot as a Junior. If they lose again to Morrisville this year, I'll have to slip them down to #4. This next game will b be a good barometer.

[IC798891]

Solid rankings from Bartman. I'm not sure I agree with the Hobart and Rochester takes.

I mean, to some degree, I get that the LL has kind of revolved around the Big 4.

But for a Hobart team breaking in a new QB, to see him go 13-of-26 for 114 yards, zero scores and a turnover, that's disconcerting. We saw last year that, as great as they are, the two running backs just can't carry them offensively. I just wonder if they've got enough on that side of the ball.

As for Rochester, as I said ea rlier, tough loss. But honestly, defense wasn't their issue last year. They held offenses in check. Even teams like RPI and Union really couldn't pull away until the 4th. But their offense was not good. They disappeared completely constantly, in large part because they were a one man show

Week 1's 10 offensive points didn't do much to show that that's changed.

I understand your comment on Hobart's backs, but last year Rayshawn Boswell was never  healthy and Denham got banged up because he had to take the brunt of the carries.This year, for right now they are both healthy and they are motivated to go out with a bang. Colombi started the game well but they had some serious miscues , so we'll see but he is much more accurate than last years starter. I'm hoping to see what Tru Styles has as a Frosh backup, he looks very good , but DeWall is very fair and Colombi needs to be given a shot as a Junior. If they lose again to Morrisville this year, I'll have to slip them down to #4. This next game will b be a good baramerer.

Yeah, the "Hurt but not technically injured" is a tough go, with RBs. Point taken. I think they're, right now, the LL version of Brockport. Passing game questions, but solid everywhere else.

We're going to learn a lot in Week 2 for sure

[Bartman]

For the Garnet Charger faithful, Nick Dunneman had 97 total yards combined rushing ,receiving and punt returns for Georgetown against Marist on Saturday. Glad Hobart doesn't have to worry about catching him this year.

[IC798891]

LL Power Rankings

1. Ithaca - Sure? I don't know. Playing Hopkins on the road has to count for something, when none of the other contenders played a good team. Been over the positives and negatives, this is just kind of a gut call

2. RPI - As I stated earlier, I really need to know what to make of Dickinson's last three drives. If they're just a case of the Engineers being bored, they'd be my #1

3. Hobart - I feel slightly more underwhelmed by their win than I do RPI's.

4. Rochester - I think the other thing that I'm not sure about is...last year was the first time Utica had ever won more than 7 games. I want to see if they can repeat this before giving full credit for beating a playoff participant. Considering they went from 49 points in the D3 poll to 10, I think I'm not the only one harboring this skepticism

5. St. Lawrence - It feels like the 2013 - 2016 Saints were forever ago

6. Buff State - Tough to watch

Unranked - Union. Sorry, Charger fans. I simply cannot rank teams when the only data point for the year is an opponent like Hilbert. I've never seen a game where *both* teams kneeled it out. You may stay here next week too.

[Jonny Utah]

Solid rankings from Bartman. I'm not sure I agree with the Hobart and Rochester takes.

I mean, to some degree, I get that the LL has kind of revolved around the Big 4.

But for a Hobart team breaking in a new QB, to see him go 13-of-26 for 114 yards, zero scores and a turnover, that's disconcerting. We saw last year that, as great as they are, the two running backs just can't carry them offensively. I just wonder if they've got enough on that side of the ball.

As for Rochester, as I said ea rlier, tough loss. But honestly, defense wasn't their issue last year. They held offenses in check. Even teams like RPI and Union really couldn't pull away until the 4th. But their offense was not good. They disappeared completely constantly, in large part because they were a one man show

Week 1's 10 offensive points didn't do much to show that that's changed.

I understand your comment on Hobart's backs, but last year Rayshawn Boswell was never  healthy and Denham got banged up because he had to take the brunt of the carries.This year, for right now they are both healthy and they are motivated to go out with a bang. Colombi started the game well but they had some serious miscues , so we'll see but he is much more accurate than last years starter. I'm hoping to see what Tru Styles has as a Frosh backup, he looks very good , but DeWall is very fair and Colombi needs to be given a shot as a Junior. If they lose again to Morrisville this year, I'll have to slip them down to #4. This next game will b be a good baramerer.

Yeah, the "Hurt but not technically injured" is a tough go, with RBs. Point taken. I think they're, right now, the LL version of Brockport. Passing game questions, but solid everywhere else.

We're going to learn a lot in Week 2 for sure

Hobarts problem imo is that the OC doesn't know what to do with two stud RBs.  The last three IC/Hobart games I've watched it seems like Hobart has tried to get those two as involved as possible, but there are only so many RB flares and screens and flat routes you can run in a season. 

I have to say I'm surprised one of them didn't transfer.  Definitely D1 talent between those two. 

[unionpalooza]

LL Power Rankings

1. Ithaca - Sure? I don't know. Playing Hopkins on the road has to count for something, when none of the other contenders played a good team. Been over the positives and negatives, this is just kind of a gut call

2. RPI - As I stated earlier, I really need to know what to make of Dickinson's last three drives. If they're just a case of the Engineers being bored, they'd be my #1

3. Hobart - I feel slightly more underwhelmed by their win than I do RPI's.

4. Rochester - I think the other thing that I'm not sure about is...last year was the first time Utica had ever won more than 7 games. I want to see if they can repeat this before giving full credit for beating a playoff participant. Considering they went from 49 points in the D3 poll to 10, I think I'm not the only one harboring this skepticism

5. St. Lawrence - It feels like the 2013 - 2016 Saints were forever ago

6. Buff State - Tough to watch

Unranked - Union. Sorry, Charger fans. I simply cannot rank teams when the only data point for the year is an opponent like Hilbert. I've never seen a game where *both* teams kneeled it out. You may stay here next week too.

No apologies necessary - it won't be til week 3 that we have hard evidence of what Union is/isn't.  FWIW, I think it's safe to expect a more aggressive approach to OOC scheduling under Poppe, to the extent he gets a say.  Behrman targeted MA/CT for recruiting, and my understanding is they looked their for OOC accordingly.  Poppe and his staff have deep NJ roots, and they are already clearly going after a different caliber of recruit.  So I'd not be surprised to see a tougher OOC schedule that looks south over the next few years.

[UfanBill]

LL Power Rankings

1. Ithaca - Sure? I don't know. Playing Hopkins on the road has to count for something, when none of the other contenders played a good team. Been over the positives and negatives, this is just kind of a gut call

2. RPI - As I stated earlier, I really need to know what to make of Dickinson's last three drives. If they're just a case of the Engineers being bored, they'd be my #1

3. Hobart - I feel slightly more underwhelmed by their win than I do RPI's.

4. Rochester - I think the other thing that I'm not sure about is...last year was the first time Utica had ever won more than 7 games. I want to see if they can repeat this before giving full credit for beating a playoff participant. Considering they went from 49 points in the D3 poll to 10, I think I'm not the only one harboring this skepticism

5. St. Lawrence - It feels like the 2013 - 2016 Saints were forever ago

6. Buff State - Tough to watch

Unranked - Union. Sorry, Charger fans. I simply cannot rank teams when the only data point for the year is an opponent like Hilbert. I've never seen a game where *both* teams kneeled it out. You may stay here next week too.

You didn't really think GARNET fans were going to let this pass unchallenged did you? While personally I'd like to see Union play a stiffer opponent week#1(and #2) I fully understand why they do so and it's what's helped rebuild the program under previous HC Jeff Behrman. New coach Jon Poppe not only inherits this schedule he also inherits a very deep team. Deep because without a JV schedule these games allow the coaches to play and develop the whole roster. It's nice to be able to tell recruits they'll likely get early playing time (and a scheduled game in their home area since Union recruits heavily in Mass and Ct.) The quality of players has definitely risen since they've been following this pattern.

You're right about Union "kneeling it out." With nearly 3 minutes left on the clock Union achieved a first and goal at the Hilbert 1 yard line and took 4 straight knees because that's what classy teams do. Hilbert then reciprocated because they were down 65-0 on their own 5. You got a problem with THAT? Overall Hilbert was organized,played hard, disciplined (they committed only 2 penalties and there were no scuffles despite their obvious frustrations) and equated their program well. BTW...Hilbert is joining the E8 next year and also has StJF, Endicott, Hobart and Buff St. remaining on their schedule. Kudos to them for stepping up while stepping in.