FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[HSCTiger fan]

I agree that Connor Hollenbeck is a great candidate for All-American but how does D3 Football leave off Will Ferrell from HSC?  He was a FIRST Team AFCA Selection last year.  The only Jr. offensive lineman on that team.  He is also the ONLY offensive lineman in the ODAC that has been recognized as a First team All-American and he is also the only offensive player returning in the ODAC this year that has already been named to 2  FIRST team All ODAC teams. 

[Pat Coleman]

Well, we aren't required to agree with the AFCA all-american team. I never look at it or any others when assembling our teams.

[HSCTiger fan]

Regardless if you look at it or not Will is the only recognized first team all-american returning this year.  I never suggested that you are not entitled to your opinion. I know I'm biased.  But in this instance I think Will deserved a shout out.  Thanks for all you guys do to cover D3 sports.

[Pat Coleman]

Regardless if you look at it or not Will is the only recognized first team all-american ...

I guess my point is that we don't recognize other groups' All-American teams. The AFCA does a decent job under the circumstances but their restriction that an All-American team can't have more than one player from a team makes it a little difficult to interpret. Was Will really one of the best three tackles last year or was he on the team only because they wouldn't consider Antonio Tate of Mount Union, Ryan Moores of Middlebury, Sam Maxie of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Charlie Homoky of Elmhurst or Brandon Peter of UW-Oshkosh? All five of those guys were on our team and were precluded from consideration by the AFCA because of the organization's rules. When you consider those, where does Will Ferrell fall?

... and yes, the AFCA named three tackles to its first/only team last year.

[HSCTiger fan]

Pat, you have forgotten more about D3 sports than I will ever know.  I simply wanted to provide a shout out to Will.  I was not looking for a debate.  The fact is Will is a returning All American and a 2 time first team All ODAC and no one in the conference can say that.

[tigerfanalso]

Several NFL teams have been on campus to work Will Ferrell out on more than one occassion. He is getting attention and he will have a great senior year. Plenty "all team" selections will be coming his way. That said, I'm certain other OL in D3 are just as good and/or better. I wish HSC had about ten more just like him.

[hasanova]

Congrats to Mr. Hollenbeck. I wish him the best for his Senior season. Pleasantly surprised the ODAC is represented on the preseason AA team.

Ditto.  Hope he continues to represent W&L and the ODAC well.

[Pat Coleman]

Pat, you have forgotten more about D3 sports than I will ever know.  I simply wanted to provide a shout out to Will.  I was not looking for a debate.  The fact is Will is a returning All American and a 2 time first team All ODAC and no one in the conference can say that.

No problem, and I'm just explaining the different between the two All-American teams.

[narch]

Several NFL teams have been on campus to work Will Ferrell out on more than one occassion. He is getting attention and he will have a great senior year. Plenty "all team" selections will be coming his way. That said, I'm certain other OL in D3 are just as good and/or better. I wish HSC had about ten more just like him.

hmm...i didn't know that nfl teams sent scouts to work out underclassmen before they became draft eligible, especially d3 guys - you would think they are so busy evaluating the thousands of draft-eligible players that it would be hard to start evaluating guys who weren't yet draft-eligible...you learn something new every day

[Pat Coleman]

That's true, though -- I've heard that before even about D-III guys. And remember, Ferrell was certainly draft-eligible last year.

[tigerfanalso]

JK

The 2012 HSC vs. W&L game was played in front of an overflow crowd; would not guess at the number and was a great atmosphere for a D3 game. It was parents weekend and a natural rival game but I was impressed with the numbers and the overall atmosphere. Is that typical for a W&L home game or is that circumstances of an important game coupled with parents weekend ?

[jknezek]

JK

The 2012 HSC vs. W&L game was played in front of an overflow crowd; would not guess at the number and was a great atmosphere for a D3 game. It was parents weekend and a natural rival game but I was impressed with the numbers and the overall atmosphere. Is that typical for a W&L home game or is that circumstances of an important game coupled with parents weekend ?

It's not too typical, no. Attendance has gone up since I was a student. In the late 90s during a long string of 5-4 type seasons, about half of the undergrads would tailgate before the game, go to halftime, and leave. So you had about 1000 total and then after halftime you had maybe 500 or so left.

Since then I think most games, when the weather is good, draw more than that. The official numbers, according to the W&L web site for last year are:

Centre                    W, 34-16    2875
Emory & Henry    W, 45-28    3265
Randolph-Macon    W, 49-14    735    (fall reading days, University was on break)
Hampden-Sydney    W, 45-42    3925
Shenandoah    W, 42-23    750

Now I'm always a little sceptical of official figures, think you can usually say they are 25% too much, but you can see for games these days W&L is drawing 2000+ if it looks like a good game. W&L is in a tough spot. There aren't a whole lot of alumni within an hour or two drive (D.C. and Richmond are the closest decent size alumni chapters) and the school itself isn't really big enough to create it's own crowd (a little over 2K counting the law school), and the town doesn't really care so long as Rockbridge County's team is playing decent. So that 1500-2500 number is pretty much tops unless it's going to be a special game, and I think anything over 1000 makes the new stadium look respectable.

So the HSC game last year, with close to 4000 official and probably well over 3000 actual, was probably a bit of an outlier. All that being said, I was at the 2010 HSC game (it was my 10th reunion and the first time I've been back to campus since the day after graduation) and that game was also pretty jam packed. So if it's going to be an important game, the team will get good support.

[tigerfanalso]

And the wrong team won both the 2010 & 12 game !!!!!

[jknezek]

And the wrong team won both the 2010 & 12 game !!!!!

2010 perhaps. While that W&L team was very hot, it wasn't all that good. Very young, talented, but not, I think, better than HSC. Last year the game was just epic. So pleased I had the chance to watch it on the computer.

[HSCTiger fan]

Anyone know when the pre-season press conference scheduled?