FB: Liberty League

[UfanBill]

Observations from Union/Rochester...The Yellow Jackets can smell it. Union needs to dig deep...Rochester QB Ryan Rose is outplaying Donovan Pacatte who doesn't look at all right. His struggles remind me of how former Union QB Will Bellamy looked a couple of seasons ago when it turned out he had a shoulder injury. I hope Pacatte is OK and it's just a bad half. His #1 receiver Landon Green is not dressed and no ones getting open so that doesn't help. Fiore and Anderson are carrying the load... For Rochester Rose is excellent and his receivers, especially Trey Johnson, are having a huge day. Union keeping Daniel Papantonis in check.

[Ice Bear]

Incredible, RPI hits game tying 39 yard field goal as time expires. 17-17 going into OT.

I'm just hoping Union can hang on and get the W. I'll worry about the meaning of all of this after.

[Caz Bombers]

Out: Magical RPI Bullsh*t

In: Magical ITHACA Bullsh*t!!

This one's for you 798891

[Ice Bear]

That was an absolute grind it out battle in Troy this afternoon. I am now grateful to Rochester for charging because if I was watching that game I may have broken some furniture and lost my mind.

Instead of that I was able to enjoy a great battle between two good football teams. I'll have some specific thoughts on the game later, but for now I'm grateful for the enjoyable afternoon of RPI and Ithaca football. I now move onto the hockey scrimmage between RPI and Union.

[unionpalooza]

Man, Union ends up with 30 first downs, 400 yards of rushing, and holds UofR to 300 yards of offense, yet sweats out a 21-17 victory.  One of the weirdest games I've seen in a while.  Not fun to watch, but glad to see Union take some punches and punch back.

Meanwhile, an instant classic in Troy.  RPI had that sucker but just blew it with two turnovers on bad snaps, and a terrible QB decision to take a bad sack and put them out of FG range in OT. 

Ithaca continues to impress with guts and perseverance.  But their inability/unwillingness to throw the ball downfield is a fatal flaw.

[HSCTiger74]

Something I found interesting...On another section of these boards you can find a link to the National Confidence Pick'em (click on General Football and you'll see it under Pick-Ems at the top).  Each week fellow D3 fans pick winners from a list of national games. This week Ithaca at RPI is on the list. Ithaca is the choice of 9 of 11 pickers! Why is that? I'd suggest it's due mostly to Ithaca's national profile and reputation. These pickers, almost exclusively from the mid-west and south, have familiarity with the Bombers. This plays into our discussion of the Top 25 Poll. Familiarity with a team, seeing their name week after week, sticks in your mind and prompts you to vote for them... It will be interesting to see what happens with Ithaca RPI and Union in the Top 25 Poll after this week. If Ithaca wins expect them to rightfully move up but what if RPI wins. I'd expect the Engineers could possibly jump into the Top 25 (pending other game results) and Ithaca would fall down. But how far? And what about Union? A 6-0 Union team would undoubtedly gain points but would they stay above RPI? and even Ithaca?   

   You're probably right about some of these pickers, but I suspect that most of them take the same approach that I do. I check each of the teams to see who and where they played, whether they won or lost and by how much, and where the game in question is being played. I admit to not checking offensive or defensive stats, or TOP, but I get an idea about those because I check in here pretty frequently (and the E8, because you guys cross-reference a lot) to see what all of you think and what you might know that I wouldn't. Then I mash it all together and make my pick. In this case I picked Ithaca, but it was my third-least confident pick because there's a part of me that believed RPI might win.
   Anyway, that's a wordy way of saying that there are a lot of us out here that pay attention to more than our "home" board and have a pretty fair handle on what's going on in the D3 world.

[Ice Bear]

Union gets the W which after seeing how close the score was throughout I am just grateful for. Seems like Pacatte had a tough game (everyone gets them) wondering if Green being out threw him out of rhythm? I appreciate Palooza's recap and will start to look forward to next week's showdown. Maybe this is what Union needed? Thinking they are quite the underdog heading into next week after todays struggle.

[UfanBill]

Valiant effort by the Yellow Jackets but the Union running game was just too much. The deciding factor may have been when I decided to change the MOJO by donning my Union gear at halftime. Seems to have worked.   The tandem of Fiore (169 yds, 2TDs) and Anderson (211, TD) saved the Garnet. The O-line was dominant. Pacatte was a little better in the 2nd half helped out by a couple of key catches by first year WR Owen Corrigan. My early season fear that the Union weakness at wideout would be a problem is very real. All in all a W is a W...on to Ithaca.

As for the Bombers. Great win and it seems those pickers were right (as was I).

[Bartman]

   I was at the Hobart-Bengals game and while Hobart had an easy win, do not sleep on the Bengals, because they shot themselves in the foot by making a number of mistakes/turnovers, but their Oline was pretty solid , their QB is  tough and they have quite a few athletes on defense, just not enough. I think they are getting better every week as evidenced by the close game against Rochester. Just too many turnovers today for the Bengals.
   Well, I was watching the RPI -Ithaca game on my phone and it was a classic. Why Isernia did not kick the field goal in the fourth quarter is a mystery to me. That decision cost RPI the game , since the tieing FG could have been a winning FG and chaos could have ensued.Anyway hat tip to the Bombers on getting past two tough opponents.
Now I have to count on Union to beat Ithaca (@Ithaca) which after seeing the result from today against Rochester seems like a  a tall order.
    So my three big questions for to today are:
       1. Why did Isernia go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a FG?
       2.  Is Rochester that good or is Union a step lower than I thought?
       3. Can Union beat Ithaca? This is my most important concern to trigger chaos.

[unionpalooza]

   I was at the Hobart-Bengals game and while Hobart had an easy win, do not sleep on the Bengals, because they shot themselves in the foot by making a number of mistakes/turnovers, but their Oline was pretty solid , their QB is  tough and they have quite a few athletes on defense, just not enough. I think they are getting better every week as evidenced by the close game against Rochester. Just too many turnovers today for the Bengals.
   Well, I was watching the RPI -Ithaca game on my phone and it was a classic. Why Isernia did not lick the field goal in the fourth quarter is a mystery to me. That decision cost RPI the game , since the tieng FG could have been a winning FG and chaos could have ensued.Anyway hat tip to the Bombers on getting past two tough opponents.
Now I have to count on Union to beat Ithaca (@Ithaca) which after seeing the result from today against Rochester seems like a  a tall order.
    So my three big questions for to today are:
       1. Why did Isernia go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a FG?
       2.  Is Rochester that good despite the close game against the Bengals last week?
       3. Can Union beat Ithaca? This is my most important concern to trigger chaos.

1.  Definitely cost them the game. It didn't seem to me to be a totally unreasonable decision; I mean, probably the only way they don't pick up the first down is by doing what they did, which is notch the snap.

2.  I think Rochester is pretty good in so far is they have a number of legit weapons on offense and can reliably make some big plays.  The defense is not good.  Union had its best rushing game of the year, and it has played Hilbert and Worcester State.

3.  Union has a shot against Ithaca. Their front 7 will keep them in the game, and the offense is explosive when Pacatte is playing well.  Today's game was flukey and produced a tight result, but it should not have been close; Union had 30 first downs to Rochester's 10. 

[Bartman]

   I was at the Hobart-Bengals game and while Hobart had an easy win, do not sleep on the Bengals, because they shot themselves in the foot by making a number of mistakes/turnovers, but their Oline was pretty solid , their QB is  tough and they have quite a few athletes on defense, just not enough. I think they are getting better every week as evidenced by the close game against Rochester. Just too many turnovers today for the Bengals.
   Well, I was watching the RPI -Ithaca game on my phone and it was a classic. Why Isernia did not lick the field goal in the fourth quarter is a mystery to me. That decision cost RPI the game , since the tieng FG could have been a winning FG and chaos could have ensued.Anyway hat tip to the Bombers on getting past two tough opponents.
Now I have to count on Union to beat Ithaca (@Ithaca) which after seeing the result from today against Rochester seems like a  a tall order.
    So my three big questions for to today are:
       1. Why did Isernia go for it on 4th down instead of kicking a FG?
       2.  Is Rochester that good despite the close game against the Bengals last week?
       3. Can Union beat Ithaca? This is my most important concern to trigger chaos.

1.  Definitely cost them the game. It didn't seem to me to be a totally unreasonable decision; I mean, probably the only way they don't pick up the first down is by doing what they did, which is notch the snap.

2.  I think Rochester is pretty good in so far is they have a number of legit weapons on offense and can reliably make some big plays.  The defense is not good.  Union had its best rushing game of the year, and it has played Hilbert and Worcester State.

3.  Union has a shot against Ithaca. Their front 7 will keep them in the game, and the offense is explosive when Pacatte is playing well.  Today's game was flukey and produced a tight result, but it should not have been close; Union had 30 first downs to Rochester's 10.

+k unionpalooza for your thoughts. I hope Union can pull it off , so the Hobart-Union game has importance for the LL title. I can't worry about tie breakers until the Bombers trip. I do believe that Union has the offensive fire power to beat Ithaca, but the Union front eight will have to beat the Bombers Oline, which I think is a challenge. 

[Pat Coleman]

Because they started the season unranked, Union and RPI could finish 10-0 and neither would probably break #15 in the poll.  Ithaca probably breaks the top 10 if the run the table and finish 9-1.

Or, if Union had played anyone in the first two games, they might be able to be in the Top 25 already. It's not just that they started the season unranked -- it's also that they still haven't played anyone who is receiving votes.

[unionpalooza]

Because they started the season unranked, Union and RPI could finish 10-0 and neither would probably break #15 in the poll.  Ithaca probably breaks the top 10 if the run the table and finish 9-1.

Or, if Union had played anyone in the first two games, they might be able to be in the Top 25 already. It's not just that they started the season unranked -- it's also that they still haven't played anyone who is receiving votes.

Sure, wouldn't argue with that.  But doesn't change the fact that preseason poll rankings stills shape late season rankings substantially.  The poll has Randolph-Macon at #10, and they've played a terrible schedule, and won't play a ranked opponent all year.  But if they go undefeated, they'll probably sit at #7 or #8, whereas a 10-0 Union or RPI again is not going to get any where near that.

[UfanBill]

Because they started the season unranked, Union and RPI could finish 10-0 and neither would probably break #15 in the poll.  Ithaca probably breaks the top 10 if the run the table and finish 9-1.

Or, if Union had played anyone in the first two games, they might be able to be in the Top 25 already. It's not just that they started the season unranked -- it's also that they still haven't played anyone who is receiving votes.

In fairness Springfield was receiving votes through week 2 when Union beat them.

[Bartman]

Congrats to the Bombers, will they complete the three week/game gauntlet at Butterfield this Saturday or will the newly named Garnet Chargers leave with a win , remain undefeated and create their own gauntlet ?