FB: Liberty League

[Jersey42]

Boy has this thread been very active . I have been out of the country for a few weeks and I have only seen a few snippets of games. I will attempt picks based mostly on what I have been reading.



   
   
   
   

Buffalo St. 42 - Hilbert 13	Could this be the first game of a long Buffalo area rivalry? Buffalo has scored at least 21 points in every game since their opener. I think they roll today.
RPI 31 - St. Lawrence 7	RPI should win easily.  Score may depend more on the weather situation and when RPI starts playing second and third teamers.
Ithaca 21 - Rochester 17	With the exception of the Alfred game, Ithaca has been in close games every week. With Wingfield out, I expect another close one today. Ithaca knows how to win the close ones.
Union 21 - Hobart 20	I have no idea, so I will take the home team. Should be the best game of the week.

[IC798891]

Jalen Leonard-Osborne.

That's it. That's the post

[IC798891]

A.J. Wingfield wasn't flashy, but he always stepped up when he needed to.

Colin Schumm, in his first ever start, on the road, facing a 3rd and 9 with just under 4 minutes to go and his team clinging to a 17-10 lead, completes an 11-yard pass for the first down. Then he scores his first collegiate touchdown to ice the game.

QB1s at IC may not throw for 350 yards a game, but they are nails.

Jalen Leonard Osborne with a TOTW performance. 208 rushing yards, 31 receiving yards, two scores.

I absolutely love this team. Nothing fazes them. A win over St. Lawrence or Buff State clinches the LL

[IC798891]

Really thought Rochester should have onside kicked with 5 minutes to go.

It seemed pretty clear to me that they were simply not going to be able to stop IC quickly. I would have liked to seen them be aggressive as the underdog at home.

[Bartman]

Congrats to Union on the win over Hobart today. The young Oline was not a match for the Union front seven in the second half. Very disappointing for Hobart as the defense didn't pick it up to keep it close. I think it was more of Union's focus/effort in the second half rather than poor play by Hobart...they just got beat , plain and simple. Maybe a chance for an ECAC bowl if we beat RPI.....but not feeling good about that matchup except it is at home...also Yellowjackets look like a real game now ...can't look past SLU....damn this loss hurts much worse than Ithaca loss because we just didn't show up in second half.

[Jonny Utah]

A.J. Wingfield wasn't flashy, but he always stepped up when he needed to.

Colin Schumm, in his first ever start, on the road, facing a 3rd and 9 with just under 4 minutes to go and his team clinging to a 17-10 lead, completes an 11-yard pass for the first down. Then he scores his first collegiate touchdown to ice the game.

QB1s at IC may not throw for 350 yards a game, but they are nails.

Jalen Leonard Osborne with a TOTW performance. 208 rushing yards, 31 receiving yards, two scores.

I absolutely love this team. Nothing fazes them. A win over St. Lawrence or Buff State clinches the LL

How did Schumm look IC?  I also think JLO may have solidified himself as the best RB in the LL this year...

[Caz Bombers]

Happy to be wrong about this one. Ithaca has a preponderance of dudes that Have Got That Dawg in Them.

Manage the business next 2 weeks, rest where possible, and then go hunt some lizards.

[UfanBill]

The entire Union team showed up today. Pacatte had a solid game both throwing and occasionally running the ball. His receivers made some plays especially 5th Year captain WR Kevin Rabacs who had the best game of his career and Landon Green who caught Pacatte's best throw of the day in full stride for a 56 yard TD, which essentially sealed the deal.  The defense held Hobart to 101 yards rushing keeping RB Rayshawn Boswell 41 yds. and Hobart QB Johnny Colombi to 11/28 162 yards well in check. Just a solid effort. In addition the Garnet were able to establish their ground attack early and often, with the hard running of Mike Fiore 157 yards and Jonathan Anderson's 106 yards sustaining it. Union took advantage of the Hobart defense which stayed in a wide 3 defensive front which the Union O-line was easily able to exploit. Often Fiore or Anderson were 4 yards into the second level before they were even touched. I was surprised the Statesmen never made an adjustment. Place kicker Max Gluck hit two important field goals to add points to the Union lead...A team performance.

This win sets up the Liberty League for a chance to earn a possible Pool C berth. RPI and Union both have only one loss and if both can win the next few weeks (RPI has it tougher with Rochester and Hobart while Union has bye, Buff. St.) the Shoes game week#11 could be for a Tourney berth.     

 

[D O.C.]

Would like to live to see Ithaca play LINFIELD.
We'd have to schedule it because the playoffs aren't set up for it.
Never know.

[unionpalooza]

Awesome bounce back effort from Union today.  After struggling with undisciplined mistakes in the first half, they played with discipline and focus and pulled away nicely in the second half.  Pacatte was wonderful, making smart decisions, throwing accurate balls, and executing all the routine plays.  Man, I would have loved to see the Union squad that showed up today against Ithaca.

Hats off to Hobart for playing hard football all day long.  Absolutely my favorite other team in the LL to watch play - they play hard and with incredible heart, no jawing or whining for calls or other nonsense, just focusing on what they can control and playing as a team. DeWall runs a great, classy program.

In the bad news file - refs were awful today and did a disservice to both teams.  The game had absolutely no flow for three quarters as they constantly held five minute conferences to figure out what they hell they were doing.  Robot AI refereeing can't come up to D3 soon enough,

[Ice Bear]

I agree with everything that has been said about the Union/Hobart game today. I admittedly did not think Union would bounce back this way. I honestly thought I'd see the same Union team today that I saw last Saturday. For yet another time this season I am happily eating crow (and Perrecas).

A couple things stand out to me. Today Union's offensive line really came to play. Hobart front three couldn't handle them and LB's were often on their heals as, like UfanBill said, Fiore and Anderson were two to three yards deep time and again right off the rip. Donovan Pacatte had an excellent game and refused to let the last two weeks define him. He was accurate and poised through the day. I was just as impressed with his decisions to throw the ball away when nothing was there as I was with his completions. I'm extremely proud of him.

I really liked the offensive game plan that I saw today. The short passing game did multiple things to benefit Union. One, it helped Donovan get some confidence and allowed multiple talented receivers to get involved. Two, it helped the run game and long passing game develop. The Garnet Charger D was tough today, especially against the run. Boswell is special and had to work extremely hard for everything he got.

Hobart has a very athletic and talented football team. I too was impressed by their fight and a unity that never was rattled. I will be most definitely rooting for the Statesmen against RPI. Dewall is an excellent coach. I think if Colombi improves his throws to the outside/flat he has the potential to be special. He is tough, makes some great throws, and can run the ball well. I have so much respect for the Hobart program.

[Ice Bear]

Also, today I realized I have no idea who unionpalooza is lol. I thought this great guy and dedicated Union fan named Jim was Palooza. I waved him over today only to find out Jim is not Palooza. Jim, like me is a local life long Union fan who bleeds Garnet. It was great to officially meet him today.

[IC798891]

After this week I see no hope for the RPI/Union loser to be RR.

If we figure there will be five spots for them to slide into (Minus IC and the shoes winner) we've got three weeks to go, and there's 12 teams with zero or 1 loss in the region. There's just not a lot of space

[UfanBill]

After this week I see no hope for the RPI/Union loser to be RR.

If we figure there will be five spots for them to slide into (Minus IC and the shoes winner) we've got three weeks to go, and there's 12 teams with zero or 1 loss in the region. There's just not a lot of space

Who's talking about the Shoes loser being RR? If Union for instance beats Buff St and RPI they will be 9-1 with a win over likely RR Springfield. That's a solid credential to be the top non AQ in the Region and the Liberty League is highly rated this year.  RPI if they finish 9-1 will likely not have a RR win.

[unionpalooza]

After this week I see no hope for the RPI/Union loser to be RR.

If we figure there will be five spots for them to slide into (Minus IC and the shoes winner) we've got three weeks to go, and there's 12 teams with zero or 1 loss in the region. There's just not a lot of space

Who's talking about the Shoes loser being RR? If Union for instance beats Buff St and RPI they will be 9-1 with a win over likely RR Springfield. That's a solid credential to be the top non AQ in the Region and the Liberty League is highly rated this year.  RPI if they finish 9-1 will likely not have a RR win.

Me - I was speculating about this possibility the other day, since two RRO wins would be much better than one.

IC, I agree the field probably is going to be too crowded this year for an 8-2 to make the top 8 in R2, barring some real late season carnage.