FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Ralph Turner]

I know I have posted this before somewhere on the OAC board, but I could not find it.

Ohio Colleges that play football:

NAIA
36.  Ohio Domincan
37.  Malone
38.  Walsh

D-II update

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?key=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2009/division+ii/dii+membership+committee+oks+lake+erie+as+active+member_07_10_09_ncaa_news

The eight institutions whose applications were not accepted are:

   * California State University, San Marcos (San Marcos, California)
   * Malone University (Canton, Ohio)
   * McKendree University (Lebanon, Illinois)
   * Monroe College (New York, New York)
   * Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Mount Vernon, Ohio)
   * Ursuline College (Pepper Pike, Ohio)
   * Walsh University (North Canton, Ohio)
   * Young Harris College (Young Harris, Georgia)

Candidacy and provisional progression

The Membership Committee also reviewed progress from 11 other institutions currently in the membership process.

The committee agreed to move the following schools from the candidacy period to provisional status, effective September 1:

   * University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (Fort Smith, Arkansas)
   * University of Illinois at Springfield (Springfield, Illinois)
   * King College (Bristol, Tennessee)
   * Lincoln University (Lincoln University, Pennsylvania)
   * St. Thomas University (Miami Gardens, Florida)
   * Urbana University (Urbana, Ohio)

The committee also agreed to move the following institutions from year one of the candidacy period to year two, effective September 1:

   * California State University, East Bay (Hayward, California)
   * Dominican University of California (San Rafael, California)
   * Maryville University of St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri)
   * Ohio Dominican University (Columbus, Ohio)

One other institution, Lambuth University (Jackson, Tennessee), was asked to repeat year one of the candidacy period.

[TheEHC52]

It's a sad day for the Emory & Henry family as Athletic Director and longtime coach Bob Johnson lost his battle with cancer early this morning.  Please keep the Johnson family in your prayers.

[hasanova]

DII
11.  Ashland
12.  Findlay
13.  Tiffin
14.  Central State U.

Is Lake Erie College still D2 as well?

Urbana?

[hasanova]

It's a sad day for the Emory & Henry family as Athletic Director and longtime coach Bob Johnson lost his battle with cancer early this morning.  Please keep the Johnson family in your prayers.

Absolutely.  I'm glad the E&H court now bears his name.

[Ralph Turner]

DII
11.  Ashland
12.  Findlay
13.  Tiffin
14.  Central State U.

Is Lake Erie College still D2 as well?

Urbana?

Yes, Urbana   

http://sports.urbana.edu/

[pakownr97]

Gentlemen and Fine Ladies,

It is almost that time...let the games begin!!!

[abnrgr]

Hasa
Been to practice? What is the QB situation now that it is close to head knock time. Probably more balanced?

[hasanova]

Hasa
Been to practice? What is the QB situation now that it is close to head knock time. Probably more balanced?

Hey, abnrgr.  Good to see you online.  I've watched a few minutes here and there on my way home from work.  Yeah, "more balanced" is probably a good way to put it.  lol  The last four years have been, from a football point of view, a freak of nature that'll probably rarely (if ever) be duplicated at Guilford again.

Here's what I see:

Junior Billy Watkins (#14) at QB - he's been Vogelbach's back-up for two years.  He's bigger (and taller) than Vogelbach and isn't afraid to run if there's no open man or on an option.  I see him on a keeper a lot on the goalline or 4th and short.  He can pass too (three TDs at BC 2 years ago), but probably only 15-20 attempts per game.  He threw two TDs in Sunday's intrasquad game.

A lot more running this year - expect Parker to be big this year (he had 795 yards and 10 TDs last year) and Cooper (a big back).

Receivers - some guys are back, but there's a 6'5" freshman (O. J. Burch #7) who caught two TDs in the intrasquad game.

Senior kicker, Chappell, so pretty solid there.

Defense is always a question - Brunson will have a big year, but roster full of freshmen and sophomores.  Also a lot of holes to fill on the OL and DL, so questions there too.

I'm hoping for 4-6, 2-4 - anything else would be very nice.  Six game home schedule helps.  

[abnrgr]

balanced....you picked up on that I see. Maybe the big guy will step up. Anytime you need a yard or backed up on your own goal line you sneak it. Well that was my way.....

defense has always been the killer.

[hasanova]

balanced....you picked up on that I see. Maybe the big guy will step up. Anytime you need a yard or backed up on your own goal line you sneak it. Well that was my way.....

defense has always been the killer.

I think he'll do a good job - it'll definitely be much more "traditional" football this year.  The defense definitely needs to pick it up - this offense won't score 49, so 40 on D just won't cut it!

[HSC85]

Scrimmage between HSC and CNU was cancelled today because of prediction of bad weather.  I was disappointed because I wanted to see CNU play as a preseason top 25 pick.  HSC opens at home with North Carolina Wesleyan.  It should be a challenging opener for the Tigers. 

[rictick]

Just wondering if Stone Station will be set up for the BC vs Averett game next week??

[Bishop64]

Does anyone have any info on the RMC/NCWC scrimage yeaterday?

[abnrgr]

Hasa
"Newport News Apprentice School scored two defensive touchdowns in a 32-13 victory at Guilford College".

Sounds like the offensive side will be spotting people which as you know usually does not work. If the clipping is to be believed they had 15 yards rushing. 15 yards!!

Balanced? Sitting on the edge of the event horizon.....

[K-Mack]

To add to the quality of the ODAC debate, do people think the conference is better as it is now (2006-2008) with parity among most teams, or from 2001-2005 when Bridgewater was dominant.
My thought is those following D3 would probably give the ODAC of a few years ago more respect based on just the success of Bridgewater, but that only takes into acount the talent and performance of one team. Obviously no team in the ODAC right now can compare to BC's teams during that time, but is the level of play and talent better now than it was 5 years ago?
Did BC fall that far from where they had risen to, or have the other programs just raised their game that much?

I think that you have to look at the conference as a whole in those two time periods, not the conference vs. Bridgewater.  Yes, Bridgewater had a downright dominant team but thats not the question.  The question would be, how would that Bridgewater squad do against the ODAC of the past few years.  Would Bridgewater still steam roll the conference or would it have to win battles every Saturday.  That's a way you could rate the conference's growth (or decline) as a whole.

Having followed the ODAC for a good 15 years and having followed bits and pieces of this discussion from a couple weeks ago, let me throw a few things out there (you guys are right on track with most of the analysis though):

1. Steamroll. Bridgewater 2001 went toe-to-toe with Mount Union and Rowan, then the two programs you judge success in D3 by. (We know the past 4 years UW-W has taken that No. 2 spot). That team was probably far and away more talented than any ODAC team I've seen. After that it's probably Catholic '97 in my book.

2. Va. HS football is really strong, I'd say with the exception of Pa. and Ohio, probably the best cold-weather state. The difference between the late 90s and early 2000s is the talent is more spread out, for a couple reasons. CNU, Shenandoah and Averett either didn't exist or were just getting off the ground then. So that's maybe 300-400 players that were in the ODAC's recruiting pool who are now spread out over other schools. I'm not doing the math off top, but that's several players per ODAC team and certainly some difference-makers who aren't in the same programs anymore. CUA, Guilford and W&L recruit from different pools of kids, but the other four are recruiting the exact same kids that CNU, Shen, Averett and probably now ODU are.

And there is something to the theory of having strong I-AAs in Va. ... Richmond, James Madison and William & Mary have some kids at the bottom of their rosters who would be standouts in D3. In Wisconsin, whoever can't get a scholarship from the Badgers goes to a WIAC school. And there are documented instances of kids passing on money from Kent State and Akron to go compete for championships at Mount Union.

3. Facilities matter, but I think in the ODAC a lot of coaches came of age around the same time. If you're an HS recruit getting pitched by Mike Clark and the early 2000s string of success at Bridgewater, Marty Favret and the staggering offensive success, Don Montgomery and his hand in building Mount Union's dominance and Pedro Arruza's no-nonsense style at R-MC, you've got a pretty tough decision on your hands. And if you're also hearing from Matt Kelchner and seeing the bottom line at CNU as far as tuition goes, that's a major, major battle there.

The big difference of the past few years is probably that never really before in the ODAC's history had every program been on the upswing at the same time before. Guilford, W&L and CUA all give you reason to believe after recent seasons, so the conference is deeper and probably one of the most balanced in Division III, which as someone mentioned, leads to regular season losses and tough first-round playoff draws.

If you need to know where the ODAC stands against the nation's best, the H-SC result against Wesley and R-MC at Mount Union last year tell you a lot.

But there's been a theory I caught wind of last year (talking to St. John's OC Jimmy Gagliardi last year it became really clear to me).

In Division III, there are elite programs who can compete every season. Most D3 coaches tell you its a numbers game; recruit a lot of kids, let the cream rise to the top. Then you have some teams who hit a special season once in a while, a lot of seniors and a good group equal a nice run one season.

But if you look at the last handful of D3 champions, they've each had one special player who was far and away the best guy on the field. MUC has had Chuck Moore, then Dan Pugh, then SJU had Blake Elliott and Linfield had Brett Elliott. Then Pierre Garcon, Nate Kmic and Micheli for Mount Union, and Justin Beaver for UW-W.

To win a Stagg, you probably need to catch lightning in a bottle to some degree. You've got to have an experienced group, preferably with the depth to withstand injuries, and then maybe those one (or three) special talents to put you over the top.

That's why people are so high on Monmouth this year. Just a regular really good D3 team with perhaps a special talent in Alex Tanney. Maybe not a Stagg-level team, but a good team and a really great player can lead to a playoff run. In the ODAC, that guy & team this year is maybe Sedlar & H-SC. Or maybe someone who hasn't quite emerged yet.

There are so many factors, like JV programs, how runs of playoff success lead to extra weeks of practice, and just the sheer good fortune of playing well in the most important games, etc., but hopefully the above is a little bit of insight.