FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[mizzou_mafia]

Here's a BC statistical oddity, for what it's worth:

Opponents have had 42 "Red Zone" opportunities, scoring on 32 of them.

If you take out the 1 for 5 Wash & Lee performance, it 31 of 37.

Many of those came later in games with the result in hand, but that seems pretty high to me...

Thoughts...

Bob,

I didn't realize the stat was that high.  Outside of the opening game collapse to McDaniel, did any of those scores give the opponent a 2nd half lead?   Just from watching a good many BC games this year, yes, the defense has given up a lot of points, but, outside of the McD game, they've made the key stops when the outcome of the game was on the line.   It's almost like watching 2 completely different units.  

I still haven't made my pick on the game yet.  I was leaning toward W&J, but when I think about it,  BC has seen plenty of good QBs/WRs this season already, and won those games.  Can W&J stop a run heavy team that can pass with some success?

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

[...]
in my opinion, CUA has a better chance under Clark then HSC will EVER have with Marty Ball! 

C'mon BC fans, let's give Favret some credit.  He might not have an ODAC ring, but he has won 70% of his games as a head coach.  That's better than M.Clark, T.Clark, Kiesel, and Miriello.  So he must be doing something right.

His "marty ball" has also produced some darn good players.

We will find out next year whether Ricca was the system or if Favret can get another QB to run it.

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

I wouldn't quite jump on the Catholic or Guilford bandwagons for next season.  Giving up 34 and 36 points, respectively, won't win many games (let me rephrase that - big games).  I wouldn't even say it's a lack of talent or dearth of experience on the defensive side of the ball, but rather an absence of a run game.  H-SC was able to contend with BC the last couple years because they had a great aerial attack, but also a stud behind Mac and J.D. (Clemmons, Junes, Simpson).

So yeah, I think CUA and GC are still a year or two away from contention.  The question becomes who will contend with BC next year?  Well, I'll warn you all ... don't get excited by the Eagles losing 16 of 22 starters after this season (nine on the offensive side of the ball).  IMHO, I think our current sophomore class is the best all-around that BC has ever had.  I'm going to say that three of the following super-sophs will be All-Americans before they graduate: Highfill (QB), Carter (RB), Copeland (WR), Cotton (OL), Chaptman (CB), Campo (LB), Orndorff (NT), Morrison (DE).  Other nice sophmores are Thomas (FB), Jones (WR), Hedgepeth (WR), Capriani (OL), and King (NT).

So yeah, unfortunately ODAC foes will have two more years of those guys (among others).  When looking at our two-deep, the only starting positions that will be truly "up for grabs" next year will be TE and FS.  We are solid everywhere else (again, starters-wise).

I think W&L will be the second-best team next year.  Sure, they lose a couple defensive studs(Hoover, Wall, Swann, Murray), but if they can find a replacement for Tweardy at QB, they'll be solid.  They bring back 4 of 5 starting OLs and all their skill guys (Sitterson, Ward, Martin, among others).

With H-SC losing Ricca, Junes, Dull, Rolander, Inman, etc... will really hurt.  As much as I like Drew Smith, I think they'll be hurting.  Find a decent replacement for Ricca and H-SC will be another CUA from this season (Keith to Nick, *yawn*).

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Having said all that, here is my pre-pre-pre-pre-preseason ODAC poll for 2006:

1 - Bridgewater - Yeah, I actually see them being scarier next year.
2 - Washington & Lee - With their scary skill players and a solid defense, watch out BC.
3 - Guilford - Entire offense is back ... get some studs on defense and they'll be scary.
4 - Hampden-Sydney - Who will they surround Drew with with all they're losing?
5 - Catholic - No more Ricca to Bublavi.  Oh what, oh what is CUA going to do?!
6 - Emory & Henry - Monty needs a couple more years to get his kind of players in his system.
7 - Randolph-Macon - A good player here, a nice athlete there, but no "team" (yet).

[miz]

IMHO, I think our current sophomore class is the best all-around that BC has ever had. 

Yes, it could very well be.  Highfill and Copeland could develop to rival the best we've ever had at their positions.  Next year's backfield of Young, Carter, and maybe Matthews with Highfill is just as potent as this years (might even be better, I think Highfill will be really, really great with his ability to run and throw and his toughness). 

[miz]

Time for BC to "wake up the echos" for some of the magic of Jopson Field playoff past!!!  We've seen some great, great football at Jopson in late Nov., early Dec. 

I'm freakin' stoked!

[muchacho]

Having said all that, here is my pre-pre-pre-pre-preseason ODAC poll for 2006:

1 - Bridgewater - Yeah, I actually see them being scarier next year.
2 - Washington & Lee - With their scary skill players and a solid defense, watch out BC.
3 - Guilford - Entire offense is back ... get some studs on defense and they'll be scary.
4 - Hampden-Sydney - Who will they surround Drew with with all they're losing?
5 - Catholic - No more Ricca to Bublavi.  Oh what, oh what is CUA going to do?!
6 - Emory & Henry - Monty needs a couple more years to get his kind of players in his system.
7 - Randolph-Macon - A good player here, a nice athlete there, but no "team" (yet).

Of course you think Bridgewater will be scarier next year after losing 16 of 22 starters. Nobody would expect you to think anything else.

I don't think BC will be as good next year, but I would keep them at #1 until they get beat.
After seeing how Guilford finished the year, I see them as #2 next season. Their offense comes back entact, and they will be able to put talented newcomers on the defensive side of the ball to increase their athleticism over there.
Catholic and W&L will both contend late into the season for the Championship but come up short. As long as W&L replaces Tweardy, I think they will be where they were this year. D is always solid and they have a good collection of skill players now. 7-3 should also help with recruiting. Catholic will continue to improve with Tom Clark bringing in another good class of players. However, there were some valuable seniors that CUA loses, and only 3 seniors(just 1 plays) on next years team. CUA might still lose some close ones next year, but will be on the verge of domination.
HSC didn't do well when Ricca went out in '04, and they still had Junes, Dull, Rolander, the player formerly known as CW, and their O-line on that offense. Unless Marty finds an absolute stud somewhere to replace JD, then they are in trouble. From what I've seen, I don't think the answer at QB is on their squad right now.
Macon and E&H are a tossup for me right now at the bottom. Pedro is supposedly a relentless recruiter, but has yet to put things together on the field. I don't know what Montgomery will be able to do in Emory, but they shouldn't be as sorry as they were this year.
Overall I think that the conference is improving. I see the bottom rungs moving up, while the top comes down a bit. HSC will fall, BC will not be as good, but still has enough talent to be the favorite. ODAC teams better pick it up out of conference. Its pretty embarassing that Shenandoah was winless in the USAC, but did manage to beat 2 ODAC teams.

[Outsider14]

[...]
how can lewis return next year? he's a 5th yr senior. yeah he sat out a year but he had already burned his redshirt at w&m
[...]

Not sure when he took years off or had his redshirt, but everyone (team-wise) seems to think he has the option of coming back.  Just depends on whether all his W&M classes transfer over and if he wants to pay for another year.

doesn't matter when or how many credits he has left... once you start your eligibility (preseason of his freshman year at w&m) you have 5 years to play 4 seasons (unless there are different circumstances like military or some other stuff, but not "i wanted to sit out a year")

[Jeremybozz]

Some keys for BC after looking at 2004 BC/W&J box score:

#1 If W&J fumbles 5 times again BC needs to recover more than 1.
#2 BC had 10 penalties for 73 yards. (All I will say about the officials that day.)
#3 It would be nice for Marcus to take the opening Kickoff 97 yards for TD again. W&J may want the ball first. I doubt they defer again if they win the toss.
#4 Not sure why the W&J punter had a 22.8 yard average while BC punter had a 29.6 average unless they were aiming inside the 20 on plenty of punts.
#5 BC sacked Edwards 4 times for -34 yards. Need as much or more pressure this year. Brandon was only sacked 2 times for -5 yards. O Line needs to be that effective again. I realize W&J passed more often and thus had more chances to be sacked.
  It should be a classic.

[Rugby Guy]

Don't forget to add that it would help for W&J to NOT have receivers running all over the place completely uncovered. That didn't help last year.

[Gal]

47 hours and 8 minutes until kickoff!!! 

[Bmore BC]

Looks like everyone is in full play-off mode. I am anxious to see who will step up and make big plays for BC. I know Awkward is looking forward to this game after having to leave the game last year after dominating early in the game. I think the defense will play with lots of confidence after picking off 6 passes last week against the nations top passing offense. I can't imagine a bigger confidence builder then that for the D. Hopefully BC will play well enough that the game will not come down to a refs call.

My prediction BC 38 W&J 28

[Jeremybozz]

My prediction is BC 35,W&J 34

[wrighthall220]

[...]
in my opinion, CUA has a better chance under Clark then HSC will EVER have with Marty Ball!  


C'mon BC fans, let's give Favret some credit.  He might not have an ODAC ring, but he has won 70% of his games as a head coach.  That's better than M.Clark, T.Clark, Kiesel, and Miriello.  So he must be doing something right.

His "marty ball" has also produced some darn good players.

We will find out next year whether Ricca was the system or if Favret can get another QB to run it.

Kid,
I was just basing my statement on the fact that T. Clark as a head coach has won several ODAC rings while Marty as a head coach has yet to win a "big game".. granted he was an assistant under Clark but as a head coach he hasn't won anything substantial.  70% is great, solid players are great as well but I'd take Clark down the stretch when it comes to winning ODAC Rings.

[Pat Coleman]

Kid,
I was just basing my statement on the fact that T. Clark as a head coach has won several ODAC rings while Marty as a head coach has yet to win a "big game".. granted he was an assistant under Clark but as a head coach he hasn't won anything substantial.  70% is great, solid players are great as well but I'd take Clark down the stretch when it comes to winning ODAC Rings.

Clark has one ODAC ring, with Favret as offensive coordinator. Catholic's 10-0 seasons came as an independent.