FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[odacsuperfan]

Guilford all over SU with a 49-7 lead in the 3rd before the subs finished it out at 56-29.   QB Matt Pawlowski was 26 of 31 for 360 yards and six TDs before he left the game for good in the third Quarter.  Final score makes it look more respectable than it really was.  Who would have thought Guilford at 2-0 in the ODAC? ... hopefully, the team and coaches could visualize it.  Anyway, GCQ with 705 yards total offense (new school record) ... pretty balanced with 434 in the air and 271 on the ground.

Great Game Guilford ! This is what I thought the Quakers would do this season !

[hasanova]

Guilford all over SU with a 49-7 lead in the 3rd before the subs finished it out at 56-29.   QB Matt Pawlowski was 26 of 31 for 360 yards and six TDs before he left the game for good in the third Quarter.  Final score makes it look more respectable than it really was.  Who would have thought Guilford at 2-0 in the ODAC? ... hopefully, the team and coaches could visualize it.  Anyway, GCQ with 705 yards total offense (new school record) ... pretty balanced with 434 in the air and 271 on the ground.

Great Game Guilford ! This is what I thought the Quakers would do this season !

I agree.  What a psychological difference between 3-2 and 4-1.  If we played Averett again in the same weather we had Oct. 12, I think the result would be similar to the SU score, but it is what it is.  We're a couple of plays from being 5-0, but then again, we're a couple of plays from being 2-3!

[hasanova]

Congratulations to GC's Matt Pawlowski for earning this week's ODAC Offensive POTW award.  If he stays healthy, he'll be a force at Guilford the next 2 1/2 years.  Go Quakers!

[pumkinattack]

JK, this is late in coming - I just don't get over here much, but obviously Coach Yoder still has work to do.  He's already improving on what he took over, it would seem to me.

I just know him from back in the day (and occasionally saw him in the past decade) and know he's as high caliber a person as you can find and he was absolutely responsible for building a nasty D in Geneva (even before the last few years, he recruited and coached other LL DPOYs).  I would also note that he coached the O for a few years (until around 06 or 07), so has a well rounded coaching background.  I really do believe he'll have them at the top of the league in a few years.  This one looks like it will be a work in progress though.

[odacsuperfan]

Halfway Point ODAC Assessments : 2 Loss Teams  Bridgewater , Catholic , and Emory & Henry can only play spoiler roles rest of season. Shenandoah and W & L not far behind with 1 Loss. That leaves Guilford , Randolph Macon , & HSC. Guilford is hard to figure out. Could have lost to Greensboro. Did lose to Averett and Methodist ?  Really ? This leaves Macon & HSC . RMC very solid with best RB (Mcghee) in Conference. HSC Defense could be best in Conference this year? Yes I said Defense. HSC has best Player in Conference ( QB Nance ) Knew he could Pass. Have you seen him run ? Bridgewater big disappointment. Maybe Guilford is better than we think ?  Shenandoah and W&L not as good ? 2 Conference Loss Teams don't go to playoffs. Or win Conference. RMC has best Defensive Line. HSC has best Offensive Line. Guilford has RMC and HSC at home. RMC has HSC at home last game of season.My Halfway ODAC Champ Pick is Randolph Macon by beating HSC at home last game. Sorry Guilford but Ill be first in line to celebrate a victory against HSC or RMC. WAIT A MINUTE I'm Picking HSC over RMC in last game. RMC isn't going to stop Nance and HSC offense with that  big OL and improved Defense. Okay HSC it is until next week..........

[odacsuperfan]

Going to W&L vs RMC game this week. Any chance W&L can win ? 

[jknezek]

JK, this is late in coming - I just don't get over here much, but obviously Coach Yoder still has work to do.  He's already improving on what he took over, it would seem to me.

I just know him from back in the day (and occasionally saw him in the past decade) and know he's as high caliber a person as you can find and he was absolutely responsible for building a nasty D in Geneva (even before the last few years, he recruited and coached other LL DPOYs).  I would also note that he coached the O for a few years (until around 06 or 07), so has a well rounded coaching background.  I really do believe he'll have them at the top of the league in a few years.  This one looks like it will be a work in progress though.

All of this may be true, but the ODAC is rife with good coaches. Coach Favret has done wonders with H-SC since taking over, Coach Clark at Bridgewater has been to the Stagg, Coach Rusiewicz is quickly turning Guilford around, Coach Arruza has upped the ante for R-MC, Coach Abell went to the playoffs in his first year as HC at W&L, and Coach Montgomery from E&H came over after a very successful stint at Mount Union. All these guys (I don't know the Catholic coach, so I left him out) are well rounded, stand up guys that either have momentum, or have done great things. Your implication that Yoder just had to show up and work hard and all would go right with Shenandoah will be interesting to keep an eye on. Certainly the same expectations arrived with Coach Montgomery, but the ODAC is a very tough place to stand out. The teams, facilities, and expectations are very similar and don't separate by much. It is one of the most well-balanced conferences in the country right now and has been for a while.

[jknezek]

Going to W&L vs RMC game this week. Any chance W&L can win ?

Sure there is a chance. This is the ODAC. W&L has had R-MC's number lately, winning 7 of the last 9 games. To be fair, both losses were at R-MC. Personally I think R-MC has the talent to win. The key will be to keep W&L's offense off the field. W&L's defense is much improved this year. Only Centre has really scored points on the Generals the way other teams have in the past. F&M got 13, Sewanee 24 including a late garbage TD, Guilford 16 and E&H 17. Those are pretty low point totals for opponents. So the key is going to be preventing the offense from getting into rhythm. The defense hasn't been helped by Generals' offense not firing on the same cylinders as the last couple years, so I don't think they will win a track meet (see Centre). If R-MC can keep W&L from scoring 25 or more, they should win.

I'm still amazed at how W&L gained 300 yards against F&M for only 14 points, 263 yards against Guilford for 7 points, and 463 yards against E&H for only 21 points. These yards should yield at least one more touchdown per game, but it doesn't seem to be happening for the Generals.

[hasanova]

odacsuperfan, I think Guilford may be better than you think.  Yeah, we squeaked by Greensboro, but it's a true rivalry game and both teams were in the first game of the season.  Yeah, we lost to Methodist, but it was on the road, could have gone either way and MU beat a pretty good CNU squad.  Yeah, we lost to Averett, but it was raining cats (Cougars, I guess) and dogs.  There were a lot of turnovers that led to at least 25-30 AU points on a very short field ... and we still could have won.  The last two games (W&L and SU) have been what I was expecting this season.  The Quakers may fall flat the next three weeks, but I personally think they are playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and will be a force the rest of the season.

[jknezek]

jk, I think Guilford may be better than you think.  Yeah, we squeaked by Greensboro, but it's a true rivalry game and both teams were in the first game of the season.  Yeah, we lost to Methodist, but it was on the road, could have gone either way and MU beat a pretty good CNU squad.  Yeah, we lost to Averett, but it was raining cats (Cougars, I guess) and dogs.  There were a lot of turnovers that led to at least 25-30 AU points on a very short field ... and we still could have won.  The last two games (W&L and SU) have been what I was expecting this season.  The Quakers may fall flat the next three weeks, but I personally think they are playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and will be a force the rest of the season.

Hasa -- I didn't post what you are responding to. That's ODACSuperfan's schtick. I have a lot of respect for Guilford after they took out W&L. Do I think they win the ODAC? No. I don't think this is the Quakers' year. But if they keep this core for the next two years I think they will get a shot at the title in that time. It's still a young team and I think they will make a mistake or two this year and probably aren't good enough to recover from those mistakes against RMC and HSC. But they took out W&L fair and square on the road.

W&L is flawed in its own right this year and, the way they have played so far, is not an ODAC contender.

[ExTartanPlayer]

I'm still amazed at how W&L gained 300 yards against F&M for only 14 points, 263 yards against Guilford for 7 points, and 463 yards against E&H for only 21 points. These yards should yield at least one more touchdown per game, but it doesn't seem to be happening for the Generals.

Not to go all Uncle Rico on you here, but sometimes that can happen with rushing-heavy offenses.  We ran a wing-T; and the year that I played against your boys (ironically, one of the games we did rack up the points, with a 39-21 win) we had a frustrating stretch at midseason that included a series of games with 250-300+ rushing yards but we just weren't getting enough points on the board (lost games 27-26, 24-21, 21-10, 20-17 before 21-0 and 18-13 wins that got us back on track) for a couple reasons: one, our passing game was essentially nonexistent (as W & L has done already this year, we won one game without completing a pass, won a second while completing two passes for 16 yards, and a third while completing two passes for 54 yards) and two, we had a number of long drives that either stalled in the redzone or were killed by turnovers.  I am a huge, huge fan of run-heavy offenses but sometimes you just HAVE to have a bit of a vertical passing game to get a quick TD or two.

[HSCTiger fan]

I'm still amazed at how W&L gained 300 yards against F&M for only 14 points, 263 yards against Guilford for 7 points, and 463 yards against E&H for only 21 points. These yards should yield at least one more touchdown per game, but it doesn't seem to be happening for the Generals.

Not to go all Uncle Rico on you here, but sometimes that can happen with rushing-heavy offenses.  We ran a wing-T; and the year that I played against your boys (ironically, one of the games we did rack up the points, with a 39-21 win) we had a frustrating stretch at midseason that included a series of games with 250-300+ rushing yards but we just weren't getting enough points on the board (lost games 27-26, 24-21, 21-10, 20-17 before 21-0 and 18-13 wins that got us back on track) for a couple reasons: one, our passing game was essentially nonexistent (as W & L has done already this year, we won one game without completing a pass, won a second while completing two passes for 16 yards, and a third while completing two passes for 54 yards) and two, we had a number of long drives that either stalled in the redzone or were killed by turnovers.  I am a huge, huge fan of run-heavy offenses but sometimes you just HAVE to have a bit of a vertical passing game to get a quick TD or two.

Sometimes it happens in pass happy offenses too. HSC/CNU game 45-72 365 yards. Only 7 points which ironically came on a run.   Turnovers suck unless the other team gets them!

[jknezek]

Not to go all Uncle Rico on you here, but sometimes that can happen with rushing-heavy offenses.  We ran a wing-T; and the year that I played against your boys (ironically, one of the games we did rack up the points, with a 39-21 win) we had a frustrating stretch at midseason that included a series of games with 250-300+ rushing yards but we just weren't getting enough points on the board (lost games 27-26, 24-21, 21-10, 20-17 before 21-0 and 18-13 wins that got us back on track) for a couple reasons: one, our passing game was essentially nonexistent (as W & L has done already this year, we won one game without completing a pass, won a second while completing two passes for 16 yards, and a third while completing two passes for 54 yards) and two, we had a number of long drives that either stalled in the redzone or were killed by turnovers.  I am a huge, huge fan of run-heavy offenses but sometimes you just HAVE to have a bit of a vertical passing game to get a quick TD or two.

It also hurts when you don't want to kick field goals and you aren't picking up the 3rd and 4th downs the way you did the previous years. 47% and 35% respectively down from 53% and 66% in 2012. Like I keep saying, W&L is missing the edge this year. If they don't find it quick, this could be a .500 season. At Ashland this weekend and at H-SC aren't going to be fun.

[hasanova]

odacsuperfan, I think Guilford may be better than you think.  Yeah, we squeaked by Greensboro, but it's a true rivalry game and both teams were in the first game of the season.  Yeah, we lost to Methodist, but it was on the road, could have gone either way and MU beat a pretty good CNU squad.  Yeah, we lost to Averett, but it was raining cats (Cougars, I guess) and dogs.  There were a lot of turnovers that led to at least 25-30 AU points on a very short field ... and we still could have won.  The last two games (W&L and SU) have been what I was expecting this season.  The Quakers may fall flat the next three weeks, but I personally think they are playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and will be a force the rest of the season.

Hasa -- I didn't post what you are responding to. That's ODACSuperfan's schtick. I have a lot of respect for Guilford after they took out W&L. Do I think they win the ODAC? No. I don't think this is the Quakers' year. But if they keep this core for the next two years I think they will get a shot at the title in that time. It's still a young team and I think they will make a mistake or two this year and probably aren't good enough to recover from those mistakes against RMC and HSC. But they took out W&L fair and square on the road.

W&L is flawed in its own right this year and, the way they have played so far, is not an ODAC contender.

jk, you are right on several counts.  My mistake on not seeing the poster was odacsuperfan.  I also agree that Guilford is a year away, but it will be proved on the field.  Guilford is facing a tough stretch, but I will tell you the Quakers are starting to gel. 

[pumkinattack]

JK, this is late in coming - I just don't get over here much, but obviously Coach Yoder still has work to do.  He's already improving on what he took over, it would seem to me.

I just know him from back in the day (and occasionally saw him in the past decade) and know he's as high caliber a person as you can find and he was absolutely responsible for building a nasty D in Geneva (even before the last few years, he recruited and coached other LL DPOYs).  I would also note that he coached the O for a few years (until around 06 or 07), so has a well rounded coaching background.  I really do believe he'll have them at the top of the league in a few years.  This one looks like it will be a work in progress though.

I hear you.  I still like my guy and would lay some duckets on my call (though I haven't been very specific about what the top means or a few years means, of course).....If gambling were legal of course.  Don't know much about the conference overall other than that I used to live in DC and drove through 66 and up 81 to get to see the parents in Broome Co (NY) or down skyline drive & 81 south and have driven by a few of the schools.  All generally seem to be located in beautiful parts of the country.  That's the extent of my knowledge (and last yr's W&L game in Geneva). 

All of this may be true, but the ODAC is rife with good coaches. Coach Favret has done wonders with H-SC since taking over, Coach Clark at Bridgewater has been to the Stagg, Coach Rusiewicz is quickly turning Guilford around, Coach Arruza has upped the ante for R-MC, Coach Abell went to the playoffs in his first year as HC at W&L, and Coach Montgomery from E&H came over after a very successful stint at Mount Union. All these guys (I don't know the Catholic coach, so I left him out) are well rounded, stand up guys that either have momentum, or have done great things. Your implication that Yoder just had to show up and work hard and all would go right with Shenandoah will be interesting to keep an eye on. Certainly the same expectations arrived with Coach Montgomery, but the ODAC is a very tough place to stand out. The teams, facilities, and expectations are very similar and don't separate by much. It is one of the most well-balanced conferences in the country right now and has been for a while.